Endless Supply
by Uniasus
Summary: Being a keyblade master means you acquire a lot of enemies, mainly from thwarting evil plans. How ironic then that this time around Sora becomes the instrument of greatest importance in a plan put together by a partnership of scheming villains.
1. Unwanted Hellos

**Disclaimer: **Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix, not me. I could never come up with something so good. Heck, my last strawberry shortcake didn't turn out so well either, and I smothered that thing in chocolate.

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**Endless Supply**

**Chapter 1 – Unwanted Hellos**

_By Uniasus_

_Brling! Brling!_ The sound of a working security system had long ago become white noise to the citizens of Radiant Gardens. Though there was no reason to keep it active, it was still functional just in case. Heartless were still around, they never would go away, but there was not any threat. They could only be found lurking in alleys and abandoned buildings by those looking for them. And who would go looking for those things? They did not attack others, seek out hearts, or appear in more than a pair at a time.

Of course there were a couple of veteran fighters that just could not accept the peace. After fighting for so long they had a hard time settling into the inaction that surrounded them. Plus, their lives had involved them in just one battle after another. Who knew, the next one might be the coming up Tuesday or perhaps it would not arrive until Cloud and Tifa had finally exchanged rings. Just in case, members of Restoration Committee would clean up the world once a week so they could prevent any rust from forming.

They were planning the weekly hunt for that afternoon, so Leon and Cloud were browsing the shops for the most updated armor and accessories. Not that they needed them to take on the variety of heartless hanging around, but old habits died hard. Plus they liked to be prepared for anything. Impromptu spars were not that uncommon to the tall fighters.

"All set?" Leon called to Cloud over his shoulder as he paid for his purchases.

The stoic blonde made his was to the counter. "Yeah, just let me pay for these."

Purchases made, the two of them made their way two stores down to fill their packs with hi-potions, ethers, and the like. Again, a useless gesture considering their planned activities but who knew when unplanned ones would crop up?

A familiar, but not recently heard sound of jingling chains caused a smile to grace both warriors' faces.

"Stocking up for something?" A voice from behind said.

"Nope not at all," Cloud placed his payment on the counter and walked by the teen with out looking at him, the corners of his lips upturned minutely.

"Really?" The teen pouted. "I was hoping for some fun,"

Leon chuckled as he paid the store owner before turning around to study the boy who joined them. Brown spiky hair, attention grabbing blue eyes, oversized shoes, and more chains than anyone needed. Yup, Sora had not changed a bit since he saw him about four month ago. Leon walked past the small brunette, ruffling his hair as he walked passed. He was not surprised to see it did not effect the teen's hairstyle.

"We're going to clean up the streets later today. Wanna help?" Leon leaned back a little bit, putting more weight on his right foot.

"Of course!" Sora exposed a toothy grin. Why wouldn't he join them, the teen loved any type of activity.

"Need anything from the shops?" Cloud joined them after checking to see if the moggle had anything new to offer.

"Hmm," Sora placed his hands on his hips and looked down in thought. "I could use a couple of things."

He turned and grabbed four blue baubles and a green one from the display behind him. After setting them on the counter, Sora dug through his money pouch for the right amount.

"Where's Donald and Goofy?" Cloud asked.

"At Merlin's house. Cid told us you were planning to take care of some heartless today, so they opted to stay there while I went to look for you guys." Sora threw a grin over his shoulder at the men behind him.

"So you already knew what we were doing, you little punk," Leon's insult was affectionate.

"Yup!"

Cloud shook his head. "Anything else you need before we head back to Merlin's?"

"I need to give some things to the moogle, but other than that, no." The keyblader shrugged and a small sound of tinkling sang out from his chains.

Leon slung an arm around Sora's shoulder. There was just something about the young brunette that brought out the warmth in his soul. "Come on then, lets get going. Once we clear the town of heartless, what do you say about a friendly match?"

"You're on! And then once I win I'll take on Cloud. What do you say?" Sora looked up at the blonde walking along side him.

Cloud shook his head with a smile. "Ever optimistic, that's you Sora. What have you've been doing these last four months, laying on a beach?" He shot the teen a teasing grin, "Leon and I have been training. I think he'll win." The blonde winked at Leon over Sora's head.

"What?!" Sora threw his arms up, freeing himself of Leon's arm and using a finger to poke the lower end of Cloud's chest. "I'm not lazy. Riku and I have been doing the same thing! I can beat that guy any day!" A thumb was jabbed at Leon.

"Guess you'll just have to prove me wrong then," Cloud gave a small yank on a hair spike and smirked at Sora.

"Grr…"

"Come on," Leon ruffled Sora's hair again and continued down the street. "Let's pick up Yuffie and go hunting."

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Sora held Oathkeeper in front of him two handed, feet apart in a wide stance with his left one more forward. Across the battlefield Leon stood tall with his feet together, gunblade resting on his right shoulder, glinting in the sunlight. He looked relaxed, but Sora knew better. The brunette had won a battle or two against the other, but luck had played a large role. Granted, Sora was faster, more agile, and had a greater repertoire of attacks but Leon had more experience, a lot more experience, with a strong upper body, which meant bone jarring sword strikes. He would have to move quickly, not give Leon the time required to make a full swing and make quick attacks that would wear him down. Dodge roll and his long distance attacks would be important here.

The keyblader narrowed his eyes at Leon. They had been in this position for a few minutes, and neither had moved. Sora was getting antsy, he had never been a patient person and usually by now his fighting partner had made the first move. Gah, he might as well do it this time.

He charged, running toward the older brunette. Leon shifted his left leg out a little bit to gain leverage. When Sora was two gunblade lengths away from Leon he released his first attack.

"Strike Raid!" Oathkeeper went spinning toward Leon as Sora dodge rolled to the diagonal right. He placed his right hand out, braced it with his left and yelled "Fire!" Leon had brought his sword down to block Oathkeeper, leaving his side exposed to the spell. Sora watched Leon stumble back from the blow as he ran in closer to the man, calling Oathkeeper back into his hand.

"Rraawh!" Sora leaped into a high jump, keyblade swinging down to land a hit on Leon shoulder. Leon had other plans though and brought the gunblade up in time to stop it. Sora landed on the blade in a crouched position, Oathkeeper's prongs on level with Leon's eyes. He grinned at the man below him.

"You have been practicing. I didn't know you could cast a spell with out a keyblade."

"Ready to lose?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Leon grabbed the end of his sword with his left hand and shoved upwards. Sora widened his eyes with surprise and performed a crude back flip. The landing was rough; a small pinch of pain was felt in his ankle and informed him it was twisted. No matter, it was not large enough to heal and he had fought with worse. He glared at Leon and received a chuckle.

The gunblade was pointed at him as a fireball shot down its length. "Blizzaga!" Sora yelled pointing his keyblade at the opposing spell. The two clashed with a sizzle as they canceled each other out and steam enveloped Sora. He circled, looking for a sign of Leon, quickly healed himself since the chance presented itself and downed an ether as a precaution.

"Hello there, young keyblader." The voice was low, cold, and smooth like satin velvet. Sora found himself frozen for a brief moment, even though he knew that voice was malevolence in sound waves and his back was exposed to the threat. As soon as he could move the brunette ripped around and put his strength in an areoga spell.

Leon came at him from the side, both hands on the hilt of his weapon for a full powered swing. Sora gave a cry and brought Oathkeeper to defend. The force of the blow sent tremors down both his arms and Sora felt the earth cave a little underneath this feet. He winced.

"Not so cocky now, eh Sora?" Leon smirked.

"Leon, there's someone else here."

"What?" he lifted the gunblade up a little, relieving the pressure on Sora's arms.

Sora dropped his voice to a whisper and spoke slowly, "Someone else is here. He spoke to me in the steam."

Leon completely backed off and returned the gunblade to his shoulder. Sora stood to his full height, keyblade in his right hand and pointed downward. He could launch a strike raid at a moment's notice.

"Who was it?"

"I don't know, I just--" There was a flurry of midnight blue, fresh silver, and reflected sunlight before Sora found himself rocketed away from Leon. He heard the brunette shout his name in alarm before his back met with an immovable force and he slide down it, the texture roughing up his back even more. He landed with a thud and rocks came crashing down on him from the cliff he hit. Hastily, he eructed a shield to prevent from being crushed.

Groaning he cast curaga and swallowed another ether. As soon as he ran out of magic he was finished. Potions he could do without because of the cure spells he knew, but once his mp was depleted he could only last so long.

Sora looked through a gap in the rocks that had fallen around him to see Leon fighting with the intruder and cursed. Long unbound moon silver hair, a single wing such a dark blue it made the sky look pastel, blue eyes the color of the Arctic Sea and just as cold, and a thin sword longer than he was tall. Sephiroth was a living killing machine; he did not stop until those who opposed him were taken care of and seemed to have no weakness. Sora had always been the worse one off when they met, and while it seemed Leon had a better chance against the death angel there was no way the gunblade wielder could win. The only one who could hold a candle to the villain was Cloud. Sora and Leon could only hope to hold Sephiroth off long enough for him to show up.

Closing his eyes in concentration Sora called up his valor form. It was the only drive form he managed to transform into without help, but even then the time limit was shorter. He would have to make this quick. Pushing rocks away he dashed toward Sephiroth and his exposed back.

"Arc Arcanum!" He leaped and brought Oathkeeper on the silver haired man's back, only to be swatted away by a heavy wing.

"I was wondering when you would come out and play keyblader." Sephiroth abandoned Leon and swung his long sword at Sora. He dodge rolled out of the way and cast a blizzaga at the other man's feet. The moment of immovability allowed Leon to land a blow on Sephiroth's back. Without even a wince the silverette flicked Leon aside and proceeded to break the ice encompassing his feet.

Sora leapt back in surprise as Sephiroth ignored Leon and rushed after him instead, eyes gleaming with ill intent. They clashed swords once, twice, thrice. Sora lost count of the clangs as he barely managed to parry and took damage each time. His volar form had already vanished and he was being forced backwards with each blow. Out of the corner of his eye the brunette saw Leon make one try or another to halt the strings of blows, only to be whacked aside via a wing or a magical spell.

What was going on? Sephiroth usually pushed _him_ aside and preferred to do combat with stronger fighters. If this barrage continued, Sora knew he would last five minutes, top. Especially since he could not find the time to heal himself. A gasp escaped his lips as he slipped on a stone, falling on his back. Sephiroth swung upward to deal a finishing blow and Sora took advantage of the extra time in the swing to roll out of the way.

Sora popped up in a wide, low crouch in time to see Sephiroth growl at him. His sword was embedded in the earth, but a strong jerk would free it. Quickly he threw up Oathkeeper to cast curega; if he was fast enough he would have time to dodge the next attack. His eyes widened in fear as he saw the one-winged man prepare a swing before the cooling feel of a healing swathed him. There was no way he would survive this!

A rush of green draped around him as a twang of metal on metal met his ears as Leon stepped in between the two of them. Leon grunted in effort and did his best to keep Sephiroth from forcing him back.

"Sora! Go get Cloud! I'll hold him off." He shifted his feet to stabilize his stance.

"Gotcha," Sora dashed off toward town, increasing his speed as he heard Sephiroth release a graviaga spell. He did not know who it was aimed at, but his running was unhampered.

Out of now where there was a hand on his chest and Sora felt the stiff feeling of a stopaga spell settle around him. The hand slipped down to his waistline and undid the buckle to the belt that stored his money, potions, and ethers. They clattered around him as they fell and shattered, the glowing substances in the containers staining the ground at his feet.

"Without these, you won't last very long, will you keyblader?" Sephiroth removed his hand from Sora and fondled the hilt of his sword. Without warning, the man slammed it down on Sora's extended right forearm. The spell wore off and Sora collapsed with a cry of pain, Oathkeeper hitting the earth with a dull sound like a bag of sand being dropped. His arm was broken and useless.

Sora looked up in time to see a swirling mass of purple energy gather in the palm of Sephiroth's extended hand, pointed directly at him. The spell went wide, over Sora's left shoulder, as Cloud slammed into his nemesis's side. In an instant, Leon was the teen's side with an open hi-potion.

"You all right?" the scared man asked as Sora took the healing agent with a shaking hand.

"Give me a moment," Sora tipped his head back and drank, emptying the vessel in two gulps. Leon placed a supporting hand on his back while watching Cloud and Sephiroth duke it out. Something was odd, the villain kept on trying to escape from Cloud's fighting sphere but the blonde was not allowing it.

"Any idea why he keeps coming after you?"

Sora shook his head as Leon helped him stand. He rotated his arm for a quick check and looked over to where the other two were fighting in time to see Cloud succumb to a graviaga and stopaga spell in quick succession.

"No, but here he comes! We'll just have to beat him, right?" Sora shot a cocky grin, shaky around the edges at the older brunette before charging. Leon was just a step behind.

Just within Sephiroth's sword range Sora high jumped and flipped over his opponent. Eyes followed him, giving Leon a chance to strike. The gunblade bit into an upper thigh, causing Sephiroth to open his defenses for a heartbeat. Sora took advantage of the opening and peeled off a Raganok, dealing damage to the long-haired warrior on his left shoulder and lower chest. Sephiroth staggered back, but not before releasing the spell he had tried to hit Sora with before. "Poison," he hissed.

"Ung!" The spell had hit, but other than the force of the initial impact Sora did not feel anything. Though for some reason he was glowing a sickly purple color.

"Sora!" Cloud was at his side in a hurry.

"I'm fine, it didn't do anything."

Cloud only had time to toss him a doubtful look before Sephiroth brought his sword down. He blocked it with a two handed upward sweep as Sora dodge rolled out of the way. Himself, Cloud, and Leon now formed a triangle around Sephiroth and they would use their position and number to their advantage.

Sora charged Sephiroth. The silver haired man pushed off Cloud and brought his sword up to block. Oathkeeper slid off it like water on wax paper as Leon launched a firaga spell. Sephiroth used his midnight wing to shield himself, causing the flame to ricochet off and just miss Sora's head because he ducked in time. Burnt feathers had not even finished falling before Cloud brought his sword up to attack. Sephiroth swerved around it, ducked, and coffee ground in an attempt to knock Leon down that failed.

All three attacked, but could not seem to get in any powerful hits. Sephiroth maneuvered too well for them to land anything other then the quick and light attacks that did not need any prep time. It was nothing that would wear Sephiroth down quickly. On a side note, Sephiroth also did not land anything serious. Leon and Cloud were quick to prevent the preparation needed for such an assault and Sora was quick to avoid any that slipped past the other two. Strangely, but not unexpected by this point, all such attacks had been aimed toward the teen.

Despite no serious hits, or even a surplus of small ones, Sora's breath was coming in gasps and his body struggled to listen to him. The glow around him had become thicker and he did not miss the glances of worry Cloud and Leon shot his way. Nor did he miss the calculating look in Sephiroth's eye, as if he was waiting for the right time to strike.

Sora stumbled. Somehow he kept on taking damage even when not being hit. It had to be the spell cast on him. If only he could push himself a little more, do more damage to the enemy fighter before him. He stumbled again, his left leg crumpling as it gave out from simply supporting his weight. Both Leon and Cloud snapped their heads to look at him, fear for the teen in their eyes.

It was a bad mistake. When in a fight it was important to never take your eyes off your opponent because it leaves you open to attack. Sephiroth chose that moment to send out a wave of energy, using his wing to give an extra push in Cloud's direction, and all three shot off in different directions.

Sora heard the wind whistling a high pitched song in his ears, felt his jacket flap, and caught the sight of Radiant Garden's sun reflecting off cold, hard steel following after him. There was a _thawk!_ as his head hit the rock wall first, followed by _thumwp!_ as the rest of his body collided with rock. And then he was free falling forward, dead to the world before crashing to the ground below.

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**A/N:** Hello all! This is the first of many updates for this story. Quite a different first chapter, ne? It still might change a little bit since this my beta's haven't gotten back to me on this yet. Betas by the way, who are freaking awesome! You can thank them for pushing me to see that I really needed to re-do this chapter. So thank you **Skylexia** and **Yume** **Kaze**! I would have waited, but my sister is always hassling me about updating this story. So this first chapter is dedicated to her, even when as she was reading this over for me she made every sentence sound like it came from an xxx novel and that every action or description meant that the sexual tension giraffe was near by and people were going to be nekkid by the end of the story. X_X This is not like that! The closest will be a topless Sora in the next chapter, maybe. Nah, that's a for sure.

And just for a heads up, don't expect the other chapters to be this long. This is a special one, so appreciate it and consider it a gift for not doing anything with this story for so long. Sorry about that -_-'

I hope you appreciate this chapter. I went through a lot of work for it. I was up to til 2 am before finally hitting the pillows after putting some music on my itunes. I woke up about 10 only to realize that my comp had died and the house had no power. (No did it for three days). So I had my sister drive me to the closet Borders so I could steal their electron juice. So tell me what you think! Be it good, bad, or just a shrug of indifference. Ask questions too if you have any! Knowing that people are out there reading is what keeps me and the other authors here going.


	2. Seize

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts, it belongs to Square Enix. But I do own the $30 bucks worth of new clothes I got today. 50% sales at Salvation Army are hard to resist ^_^

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**Endless Supply**

**Chapter 2 – Seize**

_By Uniasus_

Leon felt himself being catapulted away from the others, anxiety rising in his chest as he saw Sephiroth make a quick turn and dart after Sora. _No!_ He slammed his gunblade down, piercing the earth. The resulting jerk pulled his shoulder out of socket with a wet _pop_ and he let out a shout of pain. The brunette ground his teeth together and continued to hold on, bringing his left arm over his chest to brace his other arm. Already he could feel himself slowing down.

Eventually his momentum was not enough to keep his body parallel to the ground and Leon planted his feet as hard as he could. Dust billowed up around him as the extra friction forced him to stop. When he finally did he took a moment to take a deep breath before wrenching his blade free from the ground with his left hand. And then he was off in the direction of the rocky cliffs towering high above, off in the direction Sora was thrown.

From the corner of his eye he could see a faint dust trail kicked up by running feet. Judging by its course the two of them would meet up soon enough and Leon was glad to see Cloud was not badly injured. The quickly coming confrontation was sure to make it or break it for Sora, they needed to give it their all. Leon began mentally stopping the hunks of barbed wire coursing though the blood in his right shoulder and arm. By not registering the pain it would not hamper his fighting ability. He would only have to worry about how long his weaker left wrist could support his gunblade. Certainly no more than a half hour. The swordsman hoped things would be won by then.

Cloud and himself were quickly jogging side by side now, attention focused on the rock wall in front them for a sign of either Sephiroth or Sora. Leon took a sidelong glance to check up on how Cloud was doing. Obviously better than he was, for his breathing was less labored. He returned in scanning the ground where it met the cliff and felt Cloud complete his own assessment of Leon's condition. Nothing was said between the two of them, but the way Cloud sped up just a hair to run have a length in front told Leon that the blonde would take most of the responsibility of attacking Sephiroth. Leon had no complaints about the arrangement.

It was not long before a crouched figure was visible slightly to the right of their path. The swordmen altered their course and as soon as they could clearly make out the scene stopped and stood their ground, swords in a ready stance.

Sephiroth had dropped to one knee and was bending over the still form of a figure with his back to them. The brown hair and large black and yellow shoes visible on either side of the crouched form could only belong to Sora. The silver haired man pulled his hand back and sunk it into the recess of his pocket before taking it out again. Leon saw a flicker of light and knew whatever Sephiroth had, it was metal and thus most likely dangerous.

"Get away from Sora," Cloud's voice was low and steely, full of a threat and the promise to go through with it.

Sephiroth ignored his comment. Instead he bent forward over Sora and did something with his hands Leon could not see. The sound of cloth ripping cut through the tense air.

"You know, he could be quite handsome one day if he didn't have such an awful scar," The silverette bent low and slipped his arms under Sora's prone form, one in the notch where his knees were and the other supporting the teen's back. Slowly he stood to his full height and turned around.

The tearing of Sora shirt caused the ripping sound Leon had heard earlier. It hung loosely off him, reveling a mass of scar tissue resembling a starburst centering over where his heart was. Two lines, thick lines, though one was less so, ran up his sternum to stop just below the neckline of the t-shirt. Perhaps they were physical evidence of the reluctance of the heart to separate from the body. Leon could only guess.

The size of it was disturbing to see on such a young body. If it had been a normal wound Sora would not have lived to carry such a scar. It was evidence of just how quickly the teen, no boy, had been pushed to accept and complete a task he was much too young for and so had grown up too fast. But laying there in Sephiroth's arms, with his body beat up,bloody, and scared, looking so vulnerable and defenseless, and showing off a chest just old enough to develop muscle, Leon saw the body of someone who should be fretting over how to ask a girl out instead of worrying about the safety of worlds. Sora was a young _kid_ for crying out loud! He should not be going through events like this. He should finish high school and make the most of being young. Leon ground his teeth and tightened the grip on his sword. He would do his best to make sure Sora got that chance.

"Let. Go. Of. Sora." Leon's knuckles were white from griping his hilt so hard, as were Cloud's.

"Tsk tsk. Such potential," Sephiroth shook his head slowly, perhaps sadly if it were any one else, before leaning down and gently kissing the center of Sora's scar only to follow the action by tracing the thinner of the upward strokes with his tongue.

"SEPHIROTH!!" Cloud roared as he rushed forward only to stop after two steps, just inside the other's sword length.

Leon tensed and shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. His blood boiled. He wanted to yank that tongue out by hand, tear apart that wing feather by feather, pull off fingernails one by one, and shatter every bone in that body. But the brunette did not move for fear of hitting Sora by accident and Leon would not put it past Sephiroth to use him as a living shield.

The air behind Sephiroth rippled as inky darkness spread from a spot in the atmosphere to create a portal behind the winged man. A handful of Heartless slipped out and surrounded him, an extra barrier against Leon and Cloud. For every step backwards Sephiroth took, Cloud and Leon took one forward.

With the darkness licking at the fringes of Sephiroth's clothes he stopped and offered a Cheshire Cat smile. "Your star of the Light, is ours." And with one more step backwards the portal swathed him in darkness, the heartless jumped through, leaving only fallen blood behind.

"AARRGG!" Cloud chucked his sword at the empty air left behind. It stuck in the rock behind with low _tang_ but he made no move to retrieve it. He stood there, fingernails digging into his palms, teeth grinding, chest heaving, head down with eye closed tight.

Leon released his grip on the gunblade, the metal clattering to the ground as he followed suit to land sitting on the bottoms of his feet. His right hand hung useless next to his torso, but his left was supporting his hunched up body with a clenched fist. The hair in his eye and the dust in the air caused his eyes to water but the ground beneath stayed dry.

After a couple minutes Leon heard the crunching of earth and felt Cloud place a hand on his good shoulder. "Want me to fix that?"

The blonde did not wait for a response before placing a hand on Leon's back and using the other to grab his right arm. The was a loud _pop_, as if some pulled a lollipop out of their mouths in front of a mike, and Leon felt the barbed pain go away. He sat back and rolled his shoulder around to make sure it felt alright, all the while watching Cloud walk over to retrieve his sword.

As the blonde turned around and headed back toward him Leon picked up his own blade and turned to look toward town. The sun was starting to set; the few sunlight reflections he could see were tinted rose. Cloud came up next to him and neither looked at each other.

"We have to tell the rest of them," Cloud said wearily.

"And King Mickey too," Leon did not know how his voice was so steady when his insides were trembling. He started toward town, Cloud matching him heavy footfall to heavy footfall to heavy heart.

-----

They were waiting at the outskirts to the city. With Cloud taking off so fast with a call of "don't follow me!" thrown over his shoulder they knew it was something serious.

Donald stood with his arms crossed over his chest, tapping his foot and then switching to the other. Cid had just stared out into the expanse before sighing heavily and leaving for twenty minutes. He came back with some gummi ship plans to work on, but he scanned the horizon every ten minutes for signs of life. Yuffie had already finished going through a work out routine guaranteed to help her keep her title of Greatest Ninja. The ninja had settled next to Cid and was polishing her weapons, Goofy beside doing his best to help. Neither were focused on the task for their eyes drifted up and polishing cloths stopped moving every so often. Aerith did not move much. She stood looking out in the direction Cloud had ran with her constantly wringing hands in front of her waist. Occasionally she would pace a bit to relive the stiffness crawling up her legs, hands stilled by wrapping her arms around herself. But it never lasted long.

The setting sun was making her eyes hurt after looking out into for while. Aerith turned and walked a couple steps before pivoting and continuing the other way.

"Hey, some one's out there," Cid's quite voice was heard above his plans slipping off his lap as he stood. Quickly all of them found themselves pressed up against the short barrier lining the wall.

Yuffie leaned forward, hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun but she still squinted. "There's two people out there, and they both have swords."

"Leon and Cloud," Aerith breathed, her hands stilling to clutch each other tightly.

"No Sora?" Goofy asked, panic lightly lacing the last syllable.

No one answered.

Leon and Cloud passed through the damaged portion of the wall, not looking up at the people waiting above with baited breath. They climbed the broken stairs, shoulders sagging and heads down watching the placement of their feet. At the top of the stairs they stopped, looking out over the wall and not at the group over to the right.

Leon flicked a glance toward the group and quickly turned away. Aerith could sense something was wrong with the both them, and it had to do with Sora.

Aerith took a small step forward. "Cloud. Leon."

"Where's Sora?" Donald demanded.

Both men stiffened. Neither answered.

"Where's Sora?!" the duck's voiced wavered.

Aerith saw Leon tighten his fist and swallow thickly, preparing to speak. He opened his mouth but Cloud got there first.

"Sephiroth took him."

"What?!" "What happened?" "Why didn't you do anything?" "How could you allow that to happen?" "Why didn't you ask for help?" "Why didn't you stop him?"

Aerith watched both men deflate, hunch in on themselves, and cringe. It was obvious they felt terrible about it, and very, very responsible. Aerith walked forward and extended her arm out to silence the others before striding into the line of sight for both men. They looked down and to the side, unable to look her. She rocked back on her heels, waiting.

"We tried," Leon voice was so low and soft Aerith could hardly hear it. She noticed the group edging closer in the outskirts of her vision. "But he kept on going after Sora, cast this weird spell on him, and then…." Tremors passed through the brunette's body while the blonde beside him tensed up. "He was going after Sora specifically for some reason, we don't know why."

"We'll get him back," Cloud snarled. Aerith had to force herself not to take a step back, that was how intense he was. "I've taken him down before, I can do it again."

"There's two of them though," Leon's barely detectable voice grew in strength. "He's not working alone, who else is out there?"

"Maleficent!" Donald provided

"I thought you guy took care of her!" Yuffie exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Well, we did," Goofy opened his arms out in a kind of shrug, "but she came back and helped us by taking care of the Heartless while we went on to tackle the Organization."

"She wanted the castle!" Donald interjected, "Since she couldn't have this one. We never went back after fighting Xemnas. We all landed at Destiny Islands! I bet she's the other one!" Donald was getting feisty, jumping on one foot and brandishing his staff.

"We should check on the Princesses regardless of whether it's Maleficent or not." Aerith suggested, bending and leaning first right and then left in an attempt to catch the eye of either of the men in front of her. "Maleficent tried to unlock Kingdom Hearts last time. Sora stopped her, but if someone were to have their _and_ Sora's hearts…" she tailed off, not wanting to travel down that road.

"We have to go save Sora!" Donald exclaimed, sparks shooting from God Save the Queen.

"No," Leon's voice was heavy with resolution. "Sora's a keyblade master. He can take care of himself, he's a strong fighter." Aerith wondered if anyone one else noticed the slight hesitation. "You need to go check up on the Princesses of Heart. The safety of the worlds comes first. I'm sure King Mickey would say the same. We can set up a link and ask."

"Sounds like a plan," Goofy took off down the stairs to head toward Merlin's house, Donald, Yuffie, and Cid following.

Aerith watched them until they were halfway down the stairs. "Leon, Cloud."

"Aerith."

"Not now."

Both warriors radiated a sense that the topic was closed. "Later then," she said with a smile before walking around the pair and starting down the stairs. She was almost at the bottom before she heard one and then two sets of booted feet on the stone behind her. She would have to keep an eye on those two, make sure they did not seep too low into guilt and self-hatred. Or want of revenge. As much as she wanted to see Sora back safe and sound too, she did not want to see her friends destroyed in the process.

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**A****/N**: Tohdah! Told you there would be a shirtless Sora ^_~. Once again, this chapter is unbetaed. I originally had this one and the first chapter combined to replace the original first chapter for this fic and separated them because it was just to damn long! So yes, that means this too was written in wee hours and on stolen ekeltricity.

My lovely betas who are working on this are **Skylexia** and **Yume** **Kaze**. And once I again I have a shout out to my sister **dragonqueengold** because she has such a dirty mind. As I mentioned at the end of the last chapter she was seeing pairings right and left, and the only way I could shut her up was to promise a fic involving Sora and Sephiroth together. So if that interests any one else out there, check me out around mid May for its posting as her B-day gift.

So if you would so kindly review and tell me what you think, I would be grateful. Who doesn't love a little love?


	3. Rekindled Conscious

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts, that belongs to Square Enix instead.

* * *

**Endless Supply**

**Chapter 3 – Rekindled Conscious **

_By Uniasus_

Roxas's eyes snapped opened and he did not like what he saw. First off, it was the ceiling, meaning he was on his back. Turning on his side, the blonde used his hands to push himself up but stopped mid motion. He was not glowing. He was solid. And he should not be because that meant something had happened to Sora.

_Sora._ Standing, he looked around the room for his heart. Not here. Closing his eyes, Roxas focused to find Sora's radiance of light and blanched as he realized it was not normal. Something was wrong. He had to get out of here, find the bed headed boy, and then find Naminé so that they could reconnect.

While the plan sounded simple enough, Roxas soon discovered it was proving more difficult than expected. First off, there was no door from which to escape. The walls, made of black painted concrete, where cold to the touch and inhumanly smooth. After scouring the walls twice with his fingers, going over every single millimeter, no crack could be found that indicated a door. Even the floor was devoid of an opening. It did not help matters any that the light was dim, just enough to see by. Small patches of green light were placed around the room, on the floor, and the ceiling, with the walls curved up only to meet, creating a chopped dome like room.

Roxas focused and his personal favorite keyblade materialized in his hand, Oblivion. What also alarmed him was the availability of the other keyblades. Despite Sora's abnormal condition, he was not fighting at the moment. Such a discovery enforced the blonde's desire to find his other half as soon as possible.

Debating which wall to hack at first, the nobody was interrupted by a line of light that appeared on the floor in front of him. Looking up , he saw a rectangle of light grow as a door opened and stairs slowly began to lower to the ground. He noted that the door's bottom was at least twice his height from the floor, thus explaining why he had been unable to locate it.

"Hey! It worked!"

A silhouette who had appeared in the doorway uttered the statement. Taking only the time to notice that the person was tall _and_ wide, Roxas bolted up the stairs, keyblade cocked and ready. It was over in two seconds. One slash across the left shoulder, another strike across the front was all it took to send the guy careening into the wall behind him. The blonde was halfway down the hallway before the body had slumped to the ground. His only plaguing thought was _If that was Pete, then Maleficent is around here somewhere too._

He would have gone right past it, if it were not for the fact he was checking every so often for heartless over his shoulder. The few number of the creatures sent him on edge. But during one of those quick glances behind him, he caught a glance of Sora's image through a crack of an open door. Backtracking he found himself entering a control, security type room. The soft hum of computers almost put the warrior at ease because it reminded him of Cid's desk and of Sora's time with Tron. Almost.

What had caught his attention was a television screen displaying Sora, trapped in a room somewhere, and apparently sleeping. The boy was suspended in darkness, the only light coming from his own body, with his clothes and hair waving as if he were underwater. Aside from that however, the boy was fine. Roxas couldn't see any signs of battle, there did not seem to be any heartless or nobodies around his other half. Furring his brow in even deeper confusion as to what was going on, the blonde turned his attention toward the screen to the left.

It was emitting a static noise, one that would get on the blonde's nerves if he stayed there too long. The display was of zigzagging lines colored black, white, and other various shades of gray progressing steadily downward. After the top line reached a third of the way down all movement stopped, screen flashed black for a heartbeat, and the display repeated itself. A scratched CD, refusing to play a word and yet doing its best to make it through the entire thing.

Not thinking of that fateful cat's cause of death, Roxas gave into his curiosity and proceed to press the button labeled "play" on the panel underneath the faulty monitor. After about two c_hung_ noises erupted from the machine the display cleared up and Roxas found himself back in Hallow Bastion, staring at an Ansem-possessed-Riku.

Feeling a twinge in the keyblades' aura, Roxas noticed that Sora now gripped a keyblade in his right hand. As if connected, the other screen was now showing a fight scene with Riku from a first person point of view.

"This is..." Roxas breathed, but did not finish because the implications of it ran too deep. But sure enough the movie he was watching was Sora's memory from just shy of two years ago. Despite all ready knowing the ending, for the two of them shared memories, Roxas stood memorized by the screen. All his free will was sapped as he was unable to look away, his face paling as the sinking feeling of dread burrowed itself nicely into his chest. When the memory showed the dark keyblade closing in over Sora's heart Roxas somehow found the strength to look at the other television only to gape in horror.

There was Sora - the loveable, determined, quick to smile hero - with that dreadful weapon pointed at his chest, his own hands on the handle. How he got it, Roxas had no clue. He had sensed nothing of it being summoned. It must have already been there, hiding in the darkness, floating in the water. Sora was still sleeping, ever peaceful, not aware that as he relieved this event, _dreamed it_, he was actually going though the motions. As the keyblade was turned, Roxas watched that pure face disappear into dust bunnies of light.

As soon as he was gone the screen on the right flashed a light so bright it left spots in his vision. Had Roxas been in the room where it took place in, he might have gone blind. The outburst surprised him; he had thought the machine was broken. Previously the blank screen had just been gray with sporadic green patches. Upon closer examination, the display turned out to be the room he had been held in before. The door was closed now, but a figure could be seen lying on the floor.

After a couple of minutes of intense screen watching, the figure stood up and began to explore his cage. When it was closer to the camera, and in the light, Roxas could not help but gasp. He was looking --- at himself.

Snapping his head back to the middle screen, Sora was no longer to be found. In his place stood a heartless. It was sleeping, for the hallow yellow eyes could not be found. Waving absent-mindedly, like Ariel's hair was prone to doing, were antennae coming out from its head. Watching closely, Roxas noted that instead of moving like the room was submerged like Sora's hair had been, the head extensions were now billowing upward, as if the heartless was falling from a high ledge.

The left screen was showing a new memory now. It had turned off after Sora disappeared but now was back on. This one was of the ground rushing up to meet him. To stay steady he pressed his weight downward, reminding his brain he was on solid ground. Finally, after multiple bounds off balconies and plummeting to God knows where, the memory led Roxas to the front room of Maleficent's old castle. And there on the bottom floor stood Donald, Goofy, and Kairi. The great Princess of Light who just by loving Sora helped save the world.

As he expected, the memory continued with Kairi bending down to embrace the person who's eyes the blonde was watching through, and suddenly instead of Kairi being taller one, Roxas - or rather Sora - was. And in the monitor depicting the heartless, there now lay Sora; fast asleep, suspended in invisible water, his face still that of not a care in the world. It almost killed Roxas to see him like that. The boy had no idea what was going on; he was so drugged up that he did not wake up even when his heart was overtaken.

Roxas could remember that pain all too well. The desire to stay as you are, and yet to be ripped apart from the inside out; everything that made you _you,_ vanishing, and nothing is left but a great feeling of emptiness. Its so great that it makes one want to sink further into the darkness, to become numb, to not feel that emptiness, to forget it was filled, to be swallowed in the mentality of listlessness, because if nothing else is known but pain, it's not so painful anymore. And it was oh so simple to follow that path.

But the physical agony of being ripped apart from Sora! Of his heart being snuffed out, _murdered_, blinking out of existence, while Roxas was born, feeling the pain of mother and child at once. How Roxas hated the idea of Sora going through this again, twice now since he suspected this to be the means of his reappearance. And while the brunette's face was pain free now, after how many more repeats of that memory could he go thought before breaking?

Roxas began frantically searching for a map that he could use to locate his other half. However, just in the beginning phases on the quest the blonde instinctively stiffened. There was someone in the doorway. With his desire to uncover Sora's whereabouts, he had completely forgotten to watch out for his own back. Slowly, he turned around to discover exactly who was blocking the doorway.

Long silver bangs framed his face, more locks spilled down his back. Bright blue eyes stared out at Roxas, burning him with their pure coldness. A dark, midnight blue wing extended out from the man's right shoulder, giving the man more power over the doorway's space. Black boots, a black coat that splayed out around his thighs and just barely touched the ground, and a long, slender piece of frosty metal in his right hand. It glowed a soft neon blue, giving off a killing intent so strong Roxas's breath hitched.

Sephiroth, for that is whom the intruder turned out to be, was no laughing matter. The only known person that could give him a run for his money was Cloud, who was no where near here as far as the nobody knew. But the fact that this death angel was here, and if it was Pete he took care of earlier, were Sephiroth and the evil enchantress in cahoots?

His thoughts were interrupted as the man charged forward. Roxas, being smaller and therefore at an advantage in a small room -despite being caught off guard - ducked and rolled under the blue wing. Once clear, he took off running. If he stayed and fought that madman, there would be no help for Sora. Who would let the others know what was going on? Where the hero was being captive?

Hearing quick footsteps behind him, Roxas made the swift decision to take a nearby stairwell down. Taking two at a time, his feet could not keep up with his upper body momentum and he tumbled head-over-heels down the rest of the flight. Looking up when his body had slammed into the wall, he saw Sephiroth arrive at the top of the stairs. As soon as the sliver haired man's death glare was on him, the blonde scrambled to his feet and took off once again, smearing the blood from his split lip as he did.

Finding a set of large double doors, Roxas took them and found himself out of the building. Running continually downward on platforms that replaced the previous stairs, not wasting time to look back, the scenery slowly clicked with a place in his memories. He was in The World That Never Was, and had just exited The Castle That Never Was.

Departing the last step, or first step depending on your direction, of the castle Roxas chanced a look back. Adrenaline pumping, he was sure that the swordsman was not that far behind. Noting the lack of his opponent's attendance, his adrenaline levels jumped higher -if possible- for it meant that Sephiroth had beaten him outside. He never saw the man pass, but he would not put it past the man to be able to do so.

After tense minutes of turning in tight circles, Oblivion raised, checking and double checking the shadows, Roxas let his guard down. The winged man had never followed him out of the castle. The blonde got the feeling that Sephiroth believed him too week to bother with, or something similar. But hey, he would take the freebie.

Now, the issue was getting out of this world. He had no gummy ship, and while once he had the powers of darkness and could open a portal, that ability was now lost. After being reunited with Sora - his heart, his light - all the remnants of darkness had been blown away, leaving only the memory of them. A door to the light was out of the question as well, for those could only be utilized by the pure of heart. And Roxas did not have one of those, he had left it behind.

Calming himself down Roxas closed his eyes and searched through all of his and Sora's memories of this world. They had come here through darkness, a ball of blue green light that never left, from…Twilight Town. He had to get back there; he would have a chance to contact the King. Yen Sid did live there after all.

Mind made up, he started jogging toward the far side of the city, conserving energy and yet trying to minimize travel time. The heartless he encountered were of no match to him, just a quick one, two, maybe three strokes of his weapon. They were mainly a nuisance, eating away at time Roxas did not know the limit to.

Reaching the corner the portal was in, the keyblade welder sighed in exasperation. There just _had_ to be heartless between him and it. He didn't have time for this! With a quick leap he landed on the shoulders of the nearest opponent, and then proceeded to jump and flip from one to another, finishing with a dive into the portal.

"Oof!" he came out on the other side head first, remembering just in time to somersault and land crouched. Despite his actions, the blonde over balanced and tipped backwards; hitting his head on the wall behind him. Overcoming the force against him, Roxas dusted himself off while trying to get his bearings. The world felt empty, cold. There would not even be heartless or his lesser brethren here. This was the world he lived in while Sora was asleep. He could only recall spending two months here, but he knew that he could not have spend the majority of a year with Organization XII. The fact that something was different about him must have come up fairly quickly then. The calling that this fake, digital Twilight Town had made him feel as if he had been there for ages. And maybe he had been, but only recollected the days when Sora started to awaken.

Recalling his mental blueprint, the boy made his way to the computer room in the Old Mansion's basement, and came across the one thing in his life he would like to do over. He had smashed the computer. There was no way to teleport from here. Overcome by frustration, Roxas proceeded to further demolish the computer unit and was rewarded with a small fireworks show. More damage would not hurt it. Launching his keyblade into the center of a screen he collapsed in the transporter, curling up in a ball. How was he to save Sora now?!

Breath hitched, Roxas eventually felt drained of energy, and managed to catch some sleep. He hoped while slipping off into his dreams, that someone would find him and get him out of there. Sooner rather than later.

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**A/N:** Chapter three up! I didn't make a lot of changes between this version and the older verion of the chapter, they are almost identical. As such you might notice it feels a little different from the previous two chapters. There's got to be a year? difference between writtings. Sorry about that, but it something that you may notice in the next two chapters as well.

So, review please? *puppy eyes* Pwetty pleeze?


	4. Gathering Light

**Endless Supply**

**Chapter 4 – Gathering Light**

Upon awaking, Pete looked around wildly from his place on the floor. The nobody that attacked him had left, no _escaped_.

"Maleficent's not gonna like this," he said to himself while regaining his feet.

Walking to the door that was still open into the dark chamber, the large dog stuck his head in. Still empty. Well, it would be too convenient for the blonde to go back in for him wouldn't it? Sighing, Pete closed the door and made his way to his employer's workroom.

The workroom was actually a roof, the top of the castle to be precise. The weather never seemed to be harsh here, and the sorceress took pleasure in observing her domain from the height. At the moment, she was crystal gazing. The large glowing green quartz had the prized position of center of the floor. The ebony pedestal was embellished with carved dragons, supporting the orb at a level where while seated Maleficent could easily gaze.

Pete did his best to tiptoe toward his boss. Disturbing her hobby of stalking people usually resulted in a harsh punishment of pain. He stopped a few feet from the crystal, noticing her current objects of fascination where _those two_. Donald Duck and Goofy, the King's right hand lackeys and part of the trio that helped to make his life a living hell. Currently, they appeared to be underwater. The mage's appearance amused Pete to no end, an octopus? The other hell bringer of his life was the dark queen fairy, his boss, in front of him, not that he would tell her so. Life was better than being a pile of ash.

"Yes?" It came from black lips that positively drooled the word, imbedding a warning in ice.

Pete gulped loudly. "Umm, you evilness, the um… t-the ummm…you see…"

"Out with it!" Emerald flames started crackling at her fingertips.

"The nobody escaped," Pete kept his gaze on the floor and wrung his hands nervously.

"And how did that happen?"

He started backing up, surprised at the coldness in her voice because by now she was encased in flames.

"Well, you see…um…" the closer she came and the closer he got to the edge, the more coherent speech left only to be replaced by small animalistic noises, similar to a cornered puppy.

"You didn't want it anyway."

Pete breathed a sigh of relief as the dragon woman redirected her attention to the platinum angel who spoke.

"Oh? Why not?"

"It was the original."

"Hmm…" The bonfire surrounding her tapered off, the roaring inferno turning into jumping fire strands.

"You're right, that one would have been useless for us. Plus, now we know the machine works." The remains of her wrath disappeared except for spark at her fingertips, looking for an outlet.

Pete was always surprised that Maleficent never seemed to become angry with Sephiroth. Maybe it was his cool manner, his good looks, the way that his words always seemed to benefit their plan, promote it, and point out its flaws before it was too late. Than again it could have been that she liked having intelligent company around, considering the castle's other occupants. Hearless did not make good conversation.

"But the original," she did a quarter point turn and took a couple steps.

"We can't let him stop us, tell that blasted King and his companions--," the steps now headed toward the other direction, the beginnings of a thinking pace.

"He won't," the matter was already taken care of, the tone implied.

The sorceress stopped and smiled at the anti-angel. "That's good to hear."

"You can go," she waved her hand as if to whisk them away and resettled herself in her throne. Over course she could not control the winged man and he knew it, but he was about to leave in a moment anyway, for the purpose for his visit was completed. It paid to put on a show of control for the underlings. Especially that fool Pete. He would leave if he sensed a stronger side. Speaking of which he had already made a dent in the number of stairs left to the next floor; oppositely, Sephiroth took his time going down with the cool demeanor worthy of a warrior ready to strike at the slightest sound. She was so relieved he had partnered with her and not another where she would have to go against him. Maleficent was not positive she would win.

~*~

Donald set the gummi ship down with a slight jolt at the landing. The sigh that followed earned a question from his passenger.

"Guaw, what's wrong Donald?"

"Its just, I'm worried about Sora. Ariel said she hadn't seen him, but I don't know if that's good or bad."

"I'm sure we can find something out here in Beast's Castle, but we won't know until we go say hello."

"You're right. So let's go say hello," he pushed himself out of the pilot's chair and followed Goofy out of the hatch.

Chip and Dale stayed behind, doing their basic maintenance work while Mickey's right hand men approached the large stone castle before them. Along the way they encountered a grand total of one heartless each, which was a good sign. There had to be darkness around for light to exist. But the lack of heartless also alarmed them. Sora was in Maleficent's claws, she was planning something. If her efforts were not focused on the heartless, then what did capture her attention?

"Donald, Goofy! So nice to see you again!" Belle greeted the pair at the oversize front doors. "Where's Sora?"

"We were kinda hoping you heard something about him," Goofy ventured, "or about any strange things going on."

"I'm sorry," the Princess of Heart shook her head, "I haven't heard anything, but Beast might have. Why don't you guys join us for lunch?"

It was impossible to refuse that kind smile and gentle soul. Though, at that moment they would have accepted a potted plant's invitation on behalf of their stomachs.

On their way, the group passed Chip. Bending down to the child's level, Belle asked him to tell his mother that two guests would be joining her and the master for lunch. Chip scampered off to relay the news as the group continued forward.

The brunette led Donald and Goofy to a small garden in the back of the castle. Nestled among rose bushes a table and chairs had been set up within hearing distance of a hidden fountain. Goofy held out a chair for Belle to settle herself into when a booming voice was heard and soon the only thing he saw was fur.

"Goofy, Donald! When did you get here?" He let them down with a huge grin on his face. It fell when he took in the absence of their companion.

"Where's Sora? Is he alright?"

Belle interrupted any attempt at an explanation with a hand on his arm.

"We have guests for lunch who are hungry. Let's not ruin the meal. We can talk afterward."

Beast growled a reluctant affirmative noise and sat down next to Belle and across from Goofy. Mrs. Pots soon arrived riding on a wheeled server and helped by the cutlery. Seeing guests, the plates and silverware could not help but perform a dance number centering on the silver napkin rings. When the applause had finished, and the eatery settled, Mrs. Pots greeted the Disney Castle residents and then left the group to their meal.

It was a rather awkward meal. Beast was on edge, curious and worried about Sora, but he took the care to follow his princess's wishes. Goofy and Donald, unaware of what could be talked about and what could not, ate silently. Donald was having difficultly with his tea. He could remember his Daisy telling him that it was proper to hold a teacup with the pinkie out, but could not remember if an outdoor lunch called for such etiquette. Deciding that his girl was probably right, like always, he proceeded to take a sip with his pinkie jutting straight out. A small giggle from Belle and amusement in Beast's eyes promptly made him put the cup down.

"What's so funny?" he quacked

"Nothing," Belle's mouth was now hidden by her small hand, "It's just that-"

"Just like me," Beast shook his head

"What?!"

"Oh Donald! You never hold your pinkie like that! Who told you to?" Belle smiled at him.

"Well," The white feathers on his cheek took on a crimson hue, "Daisy always told me, 'pinkie out',"

"You needn't worry about that here. If Beast can't do it, I won't make you do the same."

Beast almost spat out the tea he had just consumed. Belle stepped in before he could say anything.

"His hands are too big you see? But ideally, the pinkie just has to be curved and hovering above the bottom of the cup. It comes naturally when you use only the first three fingers to pick it up."

From there the conversation picked up, tense atmosphere disappearing. Things once again changed however as the last pudding spoon tinkled against an empty bowl.

"Where's Sora?" The idea had been bugging Beast all meal, had Belle worried as well, despite hiding it behind her smiles and softness.

Donald bowed his head and stared into his lap, so Goofy answered.

"We don't know. He was kidnapped by this evil guy named Sephiroth, who we think might be working with Maleficent."

At the mention of the witch's name Beast released a throaty growl and bared his incisors. Goody and Donald shank back a bit from the sight. Beast however was the one who jump, as Belle placed her hand over his hairy oversized one. One look at her and all his anger evaporated, leaving him empty. Then Mickey's warrior continued with a nod from the maiden.

"We've been looking for Sora and were wondering whether you had seen him lately."

"Or anything fishy," Donald piped up, "We know she's up to something but have no idea what."

"Let me help you look for him," Beast pleaded, "He's done so much for me and Belle, it's the least I can do."

Goofy shook his head no. Donald however was the one to reply.

"If she some how gets a hold of the Keyblade Master and the seven Princesses of Light, we're doomed. We'd like to take Belle back with us to Disney Castle. The world is protected in several ways: there's a Cornerstone of Light and access to the world is very limited. You need to stay with Belle, watch over her and the other Princesses of Heart that we will be bringing there for safekeeping. I know you want to help find Sora Beast, but we've got that covered."

Beast felt trapped. He want to help find Sora, his debt to him was more than the castle he lived in. But Belle…he could not stand to lose her again. The cursed man sighed in defeat and collapsed over the table with his head in his claws.

"Is there anything else I can do to help?"

"We would appreciate it if you told us of any thing funny going on because it might be Maleficent." Goofy made the strange hiccupping noise he was prone to making. "And if anything happens just send us a message."

Beast looked at Belle. She was pouring herself more tea and not looking at him, knowing he would have to choose by himself. There was a slight smile on her lips, as if she knew what he was going to do. And he did know, losing her felt worse than Gaston stabbing him for eternity. All of his strength and being was going to be put to use in protecting her.

"Food to go!" Mrs. Potts announced her delivery as Donald and Goofy were loaded with all they could handle. The duck was already licking his bill.

"We will be needing two more boxed meals," Beast said hesitantly, awaiting the kitchen mistress's response.

Mrs. Potts looked at him but didn't answer. It was Lumarie who did; he had ridden with her on the cart to greet the guests. "Where are you going Master?" his accented voice was laced with worry.

"Maleficent's on the move again, and this time she has already captured Sora."

Servants gasped and grimaced.

"The poor child!" Mrs. Potts cried while the candlestick just hung his head and shook it sadly.

"I'm going to take Belle to a safe place and protect her but…" he trailed off, unsure of what could happen to those who shared the castle with them.

"Oh pish posh! Don't you worry about us!" steam wafted from the tea kettle to show she was not to be worried over.

"Yes, we'll take care of the castle for you Master." Lumarie gave an elaborate bow, "Just worry about the mademoiselle."

Beast smiled at the two of them. "Thank you, friends."

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**A/N:** And heres chapter 4! Not to much different from the original one at first, but it does end on different note. Please Review!


	5. Retrieval

**Edit:** 7.16.09 Just adding line breaks that were pointed out to be missing.

* * *

**Endless Supply**

**Chapter 5 – Retrieval**

King Mickey thought over the communication he had received from Radiant Gardens again. Everyone but Leon and Cloud were present to share what had happened. Sephiroth had shown up during a friendly spar, only to actively seek battle with Sora in order to capture him. And to make matters worse, he was not working alone. While Maleficent was the prime suspect, it could be anyone. And with Sora out of commission it enabled the darkness to grow in power.

The news was devastating; the coming darkness would be harder to fight back without Sora. Mickey had always been the brunette's backup, gathering information and providing physical support when Sora needed it. But Sora had needed to do most of the fighting, as it was the mouse that had the extensive network and knowledge of the worlds. Riku would be a big help, not only in fighting, but finding his best friend. The strength of his heart after choosing the path of Twilight was great. Kairi, well she was a young fighter, and the vertically challenged ruler would prefer it if she did not see too much combat. As a Princess of Heart, she had other roles.

The mouse sighed heavily. He had told them that yes, the castle was open as a haven to the princesses and agreed to the idea of having Goofy and Donald traveling around to bring the princesses to Disney castle. Aerith had asked if there was anything they could do on her end. Mickey told them to keep an ear out for any information, but there was not much else at this point in the game. When more was known, maybe.

For himself, the King was on his way to visit Yen Sid. It always calmed him to talk to his old teacher. That and if anyone knew anything, it would be the old wizard.

"Please be careful Mickey," Minnie had said at his departure.

"Of course, Minnie." He pecked his wife on the cheek, "I'll be back as soon as I can. And Yen Sid might have some valuable information. Take good care of the princesses."

She had nodded, and waved from the hanger overlook as her husband took off in the gummi ship Avalon.

After reaching the desired world, Mickey put off seeing his mentor and landed at the Twilight Town train station. He did not know why here of all places drew him, but he knew there was strong pull coming from something on the world. It nagged at his mind, becoming a priority over everything else.

Having no destination in mind, the Disney ruler just started to wander around in the hopes of what drew him to this world would lead him to its actual location. Ambling around the stores he saw mail being delivered, a ball trick in progress, and tons of kids zooming by on skateboards. He could not help but smile at the town's upbeat nature. Still walking, Mickey found himself standing in front of the Old Mansion. Quickly his heartbeat increased. What if what was drawing him was not from Twilight Town, but rather…was the data version of this world still functional?

Since he was here, it did not hurt to check. Making his way down to the computer, Mickey could not help but recall the last bit of trouble Sora had gotten into with the lost of his memories. Thankfully, most of them were re-linked; hopefully this new issue will not pose such a problem.

Starting up the computer, the mouse turned the transporter on and set it to bring him back to the real Twilight Town after an hour had elapsed. He knew that once over there he would be stuck because Roxas had taken his frustration out on the machine on that side. Double checking the settings, the king stepped onto the transporter.

The arrival was not as smooth as he remembered. As soon as Mickey materialized, he realized his feet were tangled up in something and in a very ungraceful move fell face forward. Of course, years of fighting had embedded some excellent reflexes in the mouse and instead of landing on his button nose he flipped and landed on his back, head erect to see what had caused the issue in the first place.

To his surprise, Mickey found himself looking at a Roxas who had just woken up. He was rubbing his eyes and stretching just like Sora was prone to do after a good night's sleep. The fallen ruler could do nothing but stare in shock at the nobody in front of him; he was supposed to be with Sora, not here.

Roxas gave one last stretch and finally opened his eyes, only to find himself staring at King Mickey lying on his back. He was instantly on his feet and helping the other to his.

"I'm so glad you came, King!" Roxas burst out, "Something strange is goingon and I have no idea what. We have to help Sora!"

The blonde dragged the mouse into the transporter but soon appeared crestfallen as it failed to take them out of the data world.

"Looks like were both stuck here now. ARG!" Roxas kicked a chair leg. "Now how can I tell people to help Sora?!"

"Relax Roxas," the king spoke, coming up to the keyblade user from behind, "I set the transporter to activate in an hour. Now what's this about Sora?"

~*~

"Waaahhhahhh!" A loud quacking noise of surprise woke Belle in the morning. Hurriedly she grabbed a robe and then stepped out into the hallway. She was greeted with the sight of Donald slipping down the wall he had crashed head first into. He quickly righted himself and shook his head to clear it.

"What happened?" Belle asked in her soft voice, helping her feathered friend to his feet. Her only response was a finger pointed accusingly at a large lump of fur on the ground.

The lump moved a little and Belle found herself staring at the face of the Beast. His face was pale and taunt. The whole traveling thing was not his cup of tea, for the slight rocking of the ship as they passed massive worlds was making him nauseous. Bottom line, he was skysick. On top of that he was too massive to fit into any room but the control deck comfortably and had to sleep on the floor, usually stretched out along the portion the led into the hallway so as to not have to bend around the chairs bolted to the floor. Belle guessed that Donald was going to do his morning check-up on the ship and had tripped over her partner, not remembering that he was there.

"Donald, you know he can't help it." Her face was stern yet gentle as she scolded the duck with a finger.

He had the grace to look down at his webbed feet and mumble something. Belle figured it was somewhat apologetic and left it at that. She rose from her crouch over the mage and walked over to Beast. Settling on her knees she brushed a piece of fur away from his face. "How are you feeling?"

An incoherent noise was made and than a gruff voice answered. "The same."

The princess smiled sadly at him, fingers trailing though his fur. "I'll make you some tea, okay?"

Beast didn't nod, his head was on the floor, but his eyes and the slight upward motion of his lips said he welcomed the idea. Belle lifted herself up and made her way to the kitchen. She selected the largest kettle there was thinking the others might want some as well. Once the water was heating on the stove she picked her way though the tea collection.

It was not very organized. There were a bunch of different flavors, giving her the idea that the tea bags had been collected from different places and then stuffed in the drawer. After a bit of rummaging she found a peppermint tea, the Beast's favorite. She stuck the bag in an empty mug and placed a tea that was a mixture of rosehip and orange in one for herself. By the time four empty mugs and a selection of tea for Donald and Goofy were on a tray the kettle was whistling.

She brought everything into the control room and placed it on the floor next to the Beast who was now sitting up with help from the wall. She poured the water in the cups for herself and the Beast and them asked Donald if he wanted any tea. He took if after a pause, asking for the cranberry flavored one she had brought out. Belle was delivering it to the duck while he was looking at a star chart when Goofy walked in rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"How long till we're there?" the knight asked groggily.

"We'll be there just in time for dinner."

Belle looked at Beast and smiled. "Soon you'll feel better," she told him softly. The cursed man gave a weak smile over his mug.

"Is that tea?" Goofy sniffed the air.

"Yes it is," Belle's laugh filled the room. "You've got a choice between lemon and earl gray."

The rest of the day past by uneventfully and the ship did indeed dock before dinner. Belle was very impressed with the meal, but Beast could only handle the lemon rice chicken soup. Even so, he went through most of a bowl.

Conversation with Queen Minnie hovered around the journey there and what Belle and the other princesses could do at the castle once they all arrived. She was very pleased Beast had come as Belle's bodyguard and wanted to go over plans for protection with him but put that off until he felt better.

They decided to have dessert on the balcony and were half way through their sherbet when two more joined their party.

"Mickey!" Minnie exclaimed quickly getting out of her chair and then stopping when she saw who was behind him.

"Roxas! What are you doing here?" Goofy looked at the blonde in puzzlement.

"Heh heh…" The nobody scratched the back of his head in a very Sora like manner and then let it drop with a large sigh. "It's a long story, and you're not going to like it."

A servant brought over two more chairs and another set of sherbet appeared in front of the two late guests. Mickey explained to the others what Roxas had told him. The blonde did not want to think about it; he was also very distracted by the sherbet. It had been awhile since he could use his five senses on his own and not through Sora. The aftermath of the mouse's tale was dead silence, until it was broken by a weak growl from Beast and a warbling quack from Donald.

"We gotta help Sora!" Donald had risen from his chair, which he knocked backward in his quick movement to rise. Beast looked liked he wanted to do similar things as well but was prevented because he was still sick.

"We will get him back," Roxas's voice was even, steady, and hard with determination. It was obvious that he was planning to do everything in his power to be reunited with his heart and was confident that he would succeed. "But," it was also obvious that the blonde had been thinking about things, "We can't just charge in there. Naminé has to be there to reunite Sora and myself. And while I hate to say it," blue eyes shut in an expression of self hatred, "we need to check up on the status of the Princesses of Heart before we help Sora. I know he's in a bad position, but the worlds would be in big trouble if both the Princesses and the Keyblade Master were in the hands of evil. It would be best if they only had one. Belle's safe, we have to make sure the others are as well." Roxas taunt face showed that he labored over the thought of not rescuing Sora right away, but it would have been what the brunette wanted them to do.

"We'll also need a keyblade wielder who can use the strength of his heart," Mickey took the stage. "I know you're an excellent warrior Roxas but there are something that have to be accomplished with a heart." Roxas shook his head as a means to tell the King he didn't have to explain; he knew he was lacking. The mouse continued, "We need to get Riku as well as Kairi."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Goofy asked, "Lets get going!"

The group did not leave until the next morning. Chip and Dale spent the evening, night, and early hours of the next day making alterations to a new gummi ship called the Pilaki. It was large enough to fit all of them comfortably, had weapons and speed to spare, and a room on board that was specially designed for training. While that was going on the King and Queen, together with Beast and Belle, were figuring out the best way to protect the Princesses while they stayed in the castle and to develop a communication code to use when talking to each other so as to discourage those who may be keeping track of them. Donald and Goofy took the time to soak up the ability to do nothing while Roxas spent the time just enjoying the simple things: the breeze on his skin, the grass underneath his fingers, the taste of food on his tongue, and feel of a soft bed. He knew he would only be able to experience such things for a certain amount time and wanted to make the most of them. For him, the morning came too soon and not soon enough.

~*~

Sephiroth sat alone in his room, like always. But he preferred it that way; no one to disturb his thoughts, ask stupid questions, suck up, praise him for his evilness and skills. In short, no annoying people.

That blonde kid had been annoying. Yeah, he was one Sora's nobodies, but the first ones always had flaws. This one, this one knew two much. Not the fact that they had the Hero of Light, but that he had memories of being a nobody with his own agenda. He knew what was good, bad, and had an acute remembrance of Sora. Because of that, the blonde brat was soft. Nobodies did not have hearts and therefore should have no feelings, but this one – and that pale female one – they were different. They had showed emotion helping their hearts out of trouble, and even grew attachment to others. As to why these nobodies were different, the sword wielder had no clue. Maybe it was because the hearts were not heartless, but alive and interacting with others. Whatever the case, those two were annoying and Sephiroth did not like annoying people.

Nor did he think they were worth any effort. The original that got away would never leave this World That Never Was. Only portals of darkness allowed access in or out. And even if he did find a way, the proper nobodies would finish him off. The true ones; lacking emotion and memories of another life, perfect for molding into a force that worked for him. Not that his partner in crime knew that. And in the worse case, if the nobody did escape from the World That Never Was and let others know what was going on, the warrior would have someone to see his rise to power and someone to test it on.

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**A/N:**Please read and review!


	6. A Thing of Faith

**Endless Supply**

**Chapter 6 – A Thing of Faith**

"Sora was what?!"

Riku perked his head up at the combined voices of Kairi and Sora's mother. The two of them were helping her paint the house while Sora was off gallivanting through the worlds and making sure things were alright. He had finished his section just a little bit before the other two and had gone inside to prepare some watermelon and lemonade for a snack break, but the frantic yell from the other two caused him to drop the knife he was holding and rush to the back yard.

The elder of the two women was being held by none other than Roxas. The sight of the blonde made him instantly on edge; something was off.

"What happened?"

The blonde opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the short duck on his right. "She fainted and fell off the ladder. Roxas caught her."

Not exactly the answer he was looking for, and it was obvious Roxas knew that. Kairi too wanted a different answer, but she knew other matters came first.

"Come inside," the door was opened and the red head lead the way into the house.

"Here Roxas, I'll take her." Riku relieved the nobody of his burden and carried her upstairs and placed her on her bed. A quick trip across the hall and he reentered the room with a damp cloth that he laid on her forehead. A couple of seconds to lower the blinds and close the door, Riku was out of there to join the rest of them downstairs.

Kairi had finished cutting up the fruit and had poured glasses for everyone. They all sat around the kitchen table and the teen was surprised to see everyone who had come to Destiny Islands. Earlier his vision had been limited to Roxas. Donald and Goofy were at the table, as were Roxas and King Mickey. Riku took the empty seat next to the mouse.

"Nice to see you again Mickey," he gave his friend a one armed hug that was almost deemed unmanly due to its length. "Though I wish it was on better terms."

Mickey offered a bright smile in return, with just a touch of sadness at the corners. "Good to see you too Riku! Glad you see you're doing all right. I am sorry that this just isn't a social call."

"So what exactly happened?" Kairi squirmed. It was obvious she wanted to know what had happened to her maybe-more-than-just-a-friend friend.

"Sora was kidnapped by Sephiroth!" Donald blurted out.

"A-hyuck. While we were visiting Radiant Gardens."

Riku's gaze snapped over to Mickey. Radiant Gardens was supposed to be one of the safest places in the worlds. There were many warriors in that particular world, how could the sliver haired villain just appear and take Sora?! There was no way Leon and Cloud would have allowed that. The king had his gaze on his lemonade.

"It's true. Leon wrote and told me. He showed up while he and Sora were sparring, and went after Sora from the start, even after Cloud showed up. He used a new kind of spell, Leon wasn't to sure what it did but it seemed to sap Sora's health."

"Do we know anything else?" Kairi's voice held a touch of desperation.

"We know he's not working alone."

"Yeah! He's working with Maleficent!" The magician burst out.

"Really?" Skepticism. Riku knew the duck was known for jumping to conclusions and not really thinking things through the entire way.

"Yes," Roxas's voice was heavy with knowledge. "And we know what they're doing but not why. They're, they're…" his eyes screwed shut in pain while he continued, "they're making him relive over and over again the time he unlocked his heart with the Reverse Keyblade, creating a supply of nobodies."

The kitchen grew so quite they could hear the water shifting sand outside.

"What?" Riku's voice held disbelief and astonishment. He had wielded that keyblade himself back when possessed by Ansem, or who he thought was Ansem back then. Just recalling the darkness that radiated from it, the malicious intent the weapon seemed to have, and the screams of the very few whose hearts he had unlocked, made him want to shrink from the idea and burn his hands so bad that the skin which had touched the hilt would be peeled away.

"How is that possible? He turned into a heartless, and was only brought back by my faith--"

"His memory of that is dear Kairi, and such very strong. They use it to bring him back."

"So, they are creating an army of nobodies?"

Mickey nodded, "We think so."

"Why though? No offense to you Roxas or to Naminé," Riku gave slight nod in Kairi's direction, "but if she's planning on opening the door to Kingdom Hearts again she needs the hearts of the Princess."

"Yes, which is why we are checking up on all of them and taking them back to the castle. I know you two want to go help Sora," Mickey answered the unspoken retorts, "but if she has both the Princesses and the Keyblade Master who knows what would result? Sora would want us to protect the world first, that's what he tries to do everyday. There's got to be something up with having nobodies of Sora, or else why would she not use the other nobodies in the area? Once we are sure of the safety of the Princesses we will use our information to rescue him. At least we know he's in the World That Never Was."

Another pregnant pause, everyone reluctantly agreeing to put the safety of the worlds in front of Sora's…for the moment.

"There's no way I'm not helping you guys. I've been training and I'm not sitting this one out!" True to Heart was pulled out to show that Kairi had a means of fighting and was not backing down.

"Kairi -- "

"Don't start with me Riku!"

"Kairi," he began more forceful, "You're a Princess of Heart, and if anything happened to you the worlds could be in danger. Plus, Sora would murder me if anything happened to you. Stay safe, please? So you can welcome him back and he doesn't have to worry."

"But,"

"For Sora, Kairi."

The girl sighed deeply and dismissed her keyblade. A small cough caused all to look at Roxas.

"Actually, we need both of you to come with us. There are some things that may require a keyblade and a heart. Plus, we will need Naminé to reunite Sora and myself."

The red head radiated smugness. Riku wanted to glare daggers at Roxas, but what he said made sense. He sighed in defeat. "Don't be reckless."

"I won't, I promise."

Silence once again took over, now that all that needed to be said had been.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Donald stood up and struck a fighting pose. Goofy quickly joined him.

"Yes, let's." Kairi collected glasses and plates to take to the kitchen to clean. Roxas followed to help out. Goofy and Donald took off to prepare the gummi ship, while Riku began to rummage through Sora's school backpack.

"What are you doing Riku?" Mickey asked, eyeing the silverette's actions.

"Looking for paper and a pen to right a note to Sora's mom. She already knows what Sora's role is in all this. That her son is in constant danger is no surprise, but to hear that the danger you always feared has caught up…we'll just leave note stating not to worry and that we'll bring her son back as soon as possible."

Riku finished writing and headed upstairs, Mickey following behind. The mouse stood in the doorway while he watched the other place the note on the nightstand next to the sleeping woman. The next room Riku entered was as messy as Sora's hair so Mickey knew it belonged to the brunette.

"Mickey," Riku asked slowly while filling Sora's bag with potions, elixirs, armor, and other such items that might be of use. "Tell me, do you honestly believe Sora will be alight?"

The mouse watched Riku place a few more items in the bag before answering. "I don't know. I want to believe, but from what Roxas has told me of all that Sora is currently going though…the quicker we get the Princesses to Disney Castle the better it will be for Sora. What does your heart say?"

Riku zipped up the backpack with a sigh, straightened himself out, and looked out the window at the gummi ship that just fired up its engines. "The sooner we get there the better, but I feel like he needs us at this moment. I…I…have a feeling that our window to save him will be very small. But I know he has faith that we will come for him, and I have faith that he will do his best to save the worlds and himself in the best way he can. That's all I can do, have faith."

Exiting the room, he closed the door behind him with a soft click. A quick glance at the other bedroom was thrown and then he was making his way down the steps, the king at his heels.

"I do really wish this was just a social call."

"Me too."

**

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A/N: **Another chapter up, and our resuce crew has just gotten larger. Please review, but even if you don't thanks for reading!


	7. Of Memories

**Endless Supply**

**Chapter 7 – Of Memories**

The landing was a little rough, but Riku didn't blame him. After all, it's not like he had experience flying a gummi ship. Plus, there was the added difficultly of actually finding a place to land in a sandstorm.

Seeing that the wind was not going to die for awhile, the crew had set to building up the level of their weakest member, not that they would say that to her. Kairi was quick to list her accomplishment and state that female fighters could hold a candle to their male counterparts. But it was true. She had less experience them all of them, but hopefully that could be changed in a peaceful environment.

At the moment, Kairi was studying with Goofy, their master of defense. While she did not have a shield, he still taught her the basics of body positioning to minimize openings and set her up for a quick attack while she blocked or after a parry. It was becoming evident that she was quite a natural at defense.

Riku watched her. The red head was visibly improving, he was glad to see. He promised himself that he would keep Kairi safe for Sora, but it was good to see that she could help herself out in at least some melees they would come across.

"It's nice to see she's getting better."

Roxas joined Riku in leaning against the wall and watching Kairi train. The silver haired boy raised an eyebrow at the comment; it was obvious that it was not simply because of his connection with Sora. Oh…right.

"You want Naminé safe."

The blonde nodded.

"Have you talked to her?"

"It's not that easy." The sigh dropped to the ground like an anvil. "We can't just take control of our hearts. Hearts, being what they are, are too strong to be taken over by us. The only real way to have your heart overcome is if you do it to yourself. You allow yourself to be absorbed into negative emotions, you…" Roxas stopped talking once he remembered who was talking to. Riku had experience in being overcome.

"Anyways," he continued. "Kairi would have to be in a weak state in order for Naminé to fully take control. We are capable of appearing somewhat when our hearts are sleeping. Last night when I checked up on Kairi Naminé was able to tell me she was glad to see me and that I was all right. She's worried about Sora too."

Riku nodded. "Wait, if we need Naminé to put you and Sora back together, how do we enable her to do that with out separating the two of them?"

Roxas closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. "Good question. We should probably work on that. Separating the two of them is a last resort, not that it is that bad of an option. The two of them will be fine, separated for only a little while, and once Sora and I are connected again Naminé can merge herself with Kairi. I don't want them to experience that pain though if I can help it. King Mickey and I were thinking maybe hypnosis, or maybe have Kairi work on channeling Naminé so that she can still connect us."

The silverette crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, I don't want to do that to them either. I can't imagine what Sora's going through at the moment."

The other's face paled at the thought, the memory of the pain still too recent. "Let's get our minds off of such things Riku. Let's spar a bit."

The cocky smile that played on both of their faces said 'there is no way you are going to beat me'.

Mickey was pouring over notes, papers, and books in his room trying to find a way to help Sora and figure out just why someone would want an army of Roxases. What was so special about him compared to other nobodies? Well that one was easy to answer, the blonde nobody was able to use the keyblades. No other nobody had that ability, well maybe Naminé could but she had never tried. And why could Roxas wield the weapons of light? Because he was Sora's nobody. So, the use of light was an ability the brunette and his nobody shared. But why use nobodies instead of the boy himself?

The king riffled though the resources arranged in a semi-circle around him on the floor. Nobodies were the empty shell, just the body of a person left behind when the heart gives in to darkness to become a heartless. Ideally they had no emotions, but had knowledge of something missing which would be filled by uniting with their somebody. But since nobodies never knew who their somebodies were Mickey assumed that they had no previous memories of the life they had when they were whole. Several other theorists assumed the same, but it seemed like none of them had any interaction with nobodies who could talk and thus never had the chance to confirm the theory.

The mouse paused, _he_ had access to a nobody who could talk. He never really questioned Roxas about nobodies other than how they formed and the Disney king could not really figure out why. Perhaps it was because of the connection he felt toward the other keybladers through the light that made it hard for him to view the blonde as a research subject instead of a friend and ally. Regardless, he was a source that needed to be taken advantage of in this situation.

Mickey rocked back on his heels and then stood up. Placing his gloved hands on his back the short monarch stretched to get out the kinks of sitting on the floor slouched over reading materials. Now if he could only find the blonde and breach the subject. He figured that nobody would be polishing up his fighting skills for when they entered the city once the sandstorm died down.

His theory was proved correct when he found Kairi being schooled by Goofy and the two male keyblade warriors duking it out on the other side of the room. Even though their faces were red with excursion and they were panting, both had smirks on encouraging the other to just try and win. Roxas launched a strike raid at the slivertte who countered with a dark aura that knocked Oblivion off track before charging at the blonde. However Roxas was no longer there, he had moved forward and to the left anticipating the use of dark aura and the new trajectory of Oblivion. With the keyblade in hand the blonde charged for Riku who now had his back open to attack. He was just about to strike when a gravira spell pulled him to the floor.

King Mickey strolled onto the battlefield and stood next to Riku, smiling smugly down at Roxas. "How about a little two on one?"

Blue eyes sparkled in mirth, "You're on!" He saw the two before him exchange a glance before the spell wore off and he went on the offensive to separate the two of them.

The fight didn't last longer. Individually they were all good matches with each other, so a match up of two to one was not going to last long. To make it even shorter, Riku and Mickey had a great deal of experience fighting together. The battle ended with a keyblade at the front and back of Roxas neck. The blonde de-summoned his keyblades and raised his hands in defeat. The other two backed off and banished their own weapons, all three glowing with the sense of achievement a good workout brings.

"You did pretty well Roxas," Riku rolled his right shoulder; the blonde had delivered a good hit to it. "Most don't last long against us."

"You forget that I know how both of you fight," he reached down to rub a calf that Mickey had hit while he had launched an aerial attack at the older teen.

"Cure!" The magic spell was repeated twice more as all three of them found themselves healed by a red head heading their way.

"You guys were amazing!" Kairi called as she lightly jogged over to them. "You'll have to teach me some of those moves!"

Riku smiled at her. "You'll learn them on your own. The keyblade has this uncanny ability to know your level of skill and will show you new moves as you become a better fighter. It's pretty convenient."

"I'll say. And no wonder Donald and Goofy weren't teaching me any moves or magic in particular, just fundamental stuff."

While the two Destiny Island residents talked about moves Mickey turned his attention to Roxas. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure,"

"When you first became a nobody, did you have any memories of being whole?"

The blonde gave the mouse a calculating look, wondering where this was going. "No, I didn't," Figuring the king would prefer as much information as possible and that it could help Sora, he continued. "The rest of the Organization found that rather odd. Nobodies, from what I gathered about the other members for the lower heartless weren't very talkative, have all their memories. They could tell me most of their life, and sometimes would play 'who had the worst death'. Well, some of them. I got the feeling about half of the Organization willingly gave up their hearts to the darkness and then regretted it. Anyway, I instinctively knew how to summon up the keyblades and how to fight with them and never really questioned it.

"For some odd reason though I eventually began remembering things. Memories that made me feel as if I belonged to a different life than what I was living. That's why I left, and Riku had such an easy time of capturing me because I was still trying to figure out what it all meant and why he looked so familiar." He threw a teasing grin at Riku and received one in return.

"Do you know when you started getting memories?"

"I kinda put it together based on what I remembered from my timeline with the Organization and what Sora learned about Castle Oblivion. Apparently as Sora lost his memories I was gaining them."

"Was that Naminé's doing?"

"No," the slow hesitant voice belonged to Kairi. They all turned to look at the princess. She had a blank look on her face and her head was cocked to the side, as if paying attention to a conversation on the other side of a room.

"Naminé says…that she unlinked Sora's memories from his heart…and since they had to go somewhere…they went to the body, Roxas. Did I get that right?" She nodded to herself. "Yeah, she says that's the gist of it."

"Hm," Mickey crossed his short arms over his chest. "So Roxas didn't recall anything at first because Sora's heart still held on to those memories. And when he lost them Roxas started gaining them."

"And when I lost my memories, those of Sora and my time at the Organization," Roxas continued slowly, "It was because Naminé was fixing Sora's memories."

Kairi nodded, "Memories belong to the heart."

"So why were the other organization members able to recall anything at all?"

"Where are you going with this Mickey?" Riku asked.

"I was trying to figure out what Maleficent would want with Sora's nobodies as opposed to Sora and was trying to find out if there was anything different between the two other than a lack of heart. Since Roxas told us that Sora does not remain as a heartless, I think its safe to assume that the other nobodies don't have any memories. So what's advantageous about that?"

Silence greeted the question until a soft voice rose up from Roxas's throat. "It means you can be controlled." He didn't go into detail, but it was obvious he was speaking from experience. Kairi added a nod to the statement after a brief hesitant moment.

Goofy whistled. "So Maleficent has an army of keybladers who she can control. I don't like the sound of that."

"Me neither," the feathered mage at his side added.

Roxas collapsed on the floor, right hand reaching up to grasp the bridge of his nose. "This is bad, this is so very bad. Wait…" He looked up at Mickey Mouse. "How many keyblades are there? Even if she forms a huge army, the nobodies can only arm themselves with so many keyblades."

"I don't know. A key chain forms as a symbol of meaning for a certain keyblade master. We all have our own key chains, and the others can't use it unless they are given permission from the owner. So the answer would be as many key chains as Sora has."

"So not too many, no more than 30. I'm guessing though that the rest of them will have some other weapon. Do you think Maleficent knows this? That her army only has so many weapons to use?"

"I doubt it, she never knew much about the light."

"What about Sephiroth?"

"He…might. I don't know much about him, but we could always ask Cloud."

Roxas sighed heavily; the sooner they got to Sora the better. But they had other things to do first and he was itching to begin them so he could get to the brunette that much sooner.

"Well then, sounds like a plan." Kairi offered a hand to Roxas and pulled him up.

"Ye-up!" Goofy agreed.

"I'll go set up the communication device," Donald headed off towards the bridge with Goofy in tow.

"I hope Sora's doing okay," Kairi twisted her hands together in front of her.

"I'm sure he's doing his best," Riku wrapped an arm around her shoulders and the two of the headed off to the sleeping quarters of the ship to get washed up after training.

Roxas wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.

"You okay?" the mouse asked.

"Knowing Maleficent, she'll want a huge army, and that means Sora will have to go through the process of becoming a heartless and back again many times. I hate to think of him going through that kind of pain over and over again. And I don't want to think about what her plans could be. I want to be done here a soon as possible to go help him. I…I can feel him, or his light at least," The blonde closed his eyes and concentrated, "It keeps on getting weaker and will flicker on occasion. I'm…I'm scared of losing him."

"We all are, Roxas. And I promise we'll do our best to make sure it doesn't happen."

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**A/N**: Not too exciting of a chapter, sorry, but hopefully you still got something out of it. And sorry it's so late! I've turned into quite a Transformers' fangirl.


	8. Conversations

**Edit:** Just changed a bit of conversation about Sephiroth. Nothing major, just figured that Cloud would have at least looked for the evil dude and put in a little tibit about that and why he couldn't find him.

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**Endless Supply**

**Chapter 8 –** **Conversations**

The sand storm was finished by the time they woke up. Goofy and Donald went outside to unbury the ship, Kairi in tow. It was good to learn how to fight on all types of terrain. Lack of howling winds and pelting sands also meant their communications were no longer blocked.

King Mickey sat down in the pilot's chair and began hailing Radiant Gardens while Riku and Roxas took occupancy of the captians' chairs behind him. It wasn't a quick connection by any means, by the time Cid's face filled the screen both teens had shifted from their original position.

"King Mickey!" the blonde exclaimed. Almost immediately those of another burette and a spiky blonde joined his face on the screen.

"Did you find out-?" Leon was cut off as he noticed Roxas in a chair behind the mouse. "Whose that?"

Roxas squirmed uncomfortably in his seat as three pairs eyes stared at him. Make that five; Yuffie and Aerith had entered the screen by then. Sheepishly the young blonde raised a hand to give a small wave. "Hi. I'm Roxas."

"Roxas?" Aerith focused a little more intently on the teen. "You look just like Sora, but blonde."

"He should," Riku shrugged and the pairs of eyes focused their intentions on him instead. "He's Sora's nobody. They don't know you?"

Roxas shrugged. "It was never a topic Sora liked talking about. You and Kairi were there when it happened, as were Donald and Goofy. And then Sora never really figured out who I was till The Castle That Never Was. And you and King Mickey went looking for me out of pure speculation at first, remember?"

"Not true, DiZ told us-"

"Wait a minute, Sora's nobody?" Cloud's voice was very puzzled and it was obvious the rest of the group was thinking along the same lines. "Is he alright?!"

"Sorry fellas," the Disney king gave a little laugh, "I didn't realize you didn't know about Roxas. I really just wanted to ask Cloud a question, but I have a feeling you all want an update on things so far."

"You bet! Spill it King!" Leon gave Yuffie a little nudge in the side for being disrespectful.

"That would be appreciated," the brunette said in an even tone.

"Alrighty then! You see Roxas came about when…"

By the time all had be told, the screen the keybladers were looking was less crowed due to people stepping back to get some breathing room. And Cid had zoomed out the camera. Roxas was thankful because it gave him a good chance to observe the group. Sure, he had Sora's memories to go by, but it was not the same as interacting with them, albeit though a screen, on his own. It was obvious why Sora liked this crew, and so was the protectiveness Cloud and Leon felt for the brunette. Roxas was not sure Sora had picked up on it, but Roxas was able to have a more objective view.

It saddened Roxas a little. Sora had people who cared for him, people willing to do anything to help the brunette, himself included. He could not help but wonder if someone would do the same to him. Naminé might, but she was limited in her actions. Axel had, the blonde reflected sadly, but he could not recall why the pyro had done so. His memories of being with the Organization had disappeared when Naminé returned Sora's memories to him. He supposed that perhaps those times were still some where in Sora's heart, maybe he'd ask the other nobody to help unlock them. Hayner, Ollete, and Pence did not count is his mind. In fact, they existed only in his mind; in the digital version of Twilight Town that DiZ had constructed to aid Sora. The real ones had no idea who he was. He sighed. He just could not shake the feeling that any sort of effort to aid him was because it helped Sora, even if in directly.

"So what did you want to ask me, Your Majesty?"

"Call me Mickey, we're friends, are we not?"

"Mickey… what did you want to ask?" Cloud furrowed his brow.

Both Riku and Roxas shifted into a position showing they were listening.

"What do you know about Sephiroth? Specifically, about how he plans and fights."

Cloud crossed his arms as a pensive look took over his face. "He does his research, I'll give him that. He doesn't often miscalculate, and is very ruthless. I know when Maleficent was taken care of things stopped, but the cause of all of it –Ansem- stuck around. Sephiroth's like that. He thinks things through. Hides pretty well too; I didn't find him in The World That Never Was."

"He's not in the real one, somehow they transferred themselves into the digital version." Roxas shook his head in confusion. " Why did he let me escape from The World That Never Was?" Roxas shook his head in confusion. "It can't be a good thing that I was able to tell King Mickey about what they are doing or where they are hiding out."

"Maybe he didn't think you would get that far," Yuffie gave a shrug as if to say 'that's that'.

"Or maybe he didn't want to waste the effort," Cid leaned back in his chair, fingering the straw in his mouth.

"So he's confident enough that we won't stop them." Leon placed a hand on his hip and looked at Cloud.

"Possible. If anything that's a trend I've noticed, he tends to underestimate what his opponents can do. Granted I've only ever to _just_ beat him every time we fight. I don't think he understands the strength that can be gained from wanting to protect someone or something."

"So that's the only thing we have on them then," Mickey looked at the control panel while he voiced his thoughts out loud. "We might have surprise, but Sephiroth seems to think that it won't be much of an advantage to us. We will just have to have faith in the light."

"I wish we knew what they were planning," Riku growled from his chair. "All the Princesses of Heart so far have been fine, so we don't know if they are a target or not. I'ld hate to think that all this time world traveling could have been used to rescue Sora instead." The silverette ground his teeth.

"Riku! Don't be such an angsty teenager!"

The teen jumped at the voice and turned in his seat to see the rest of their party join them.

"Sorry Kai, it just that,"

"Roxas said Sora would prefer us to make sure things are alright in the universe before we help him, right Roxas?" The young lady took a seat on Riku's armrest, as if daring him to get absorbed in teenage angst.

"Yeah, he always put others before himself." Riku turned his head to face the wall.

"Stupid." The word was a three-part harmony as Riku, Leon, and Cloud uttered it together.

Aerith giggled. "But that's what makes Sora, Sora. And I wouldn't have him any other way."

"Well, its obvious he has great friends like you all to watch over him." Kairi beamed at the group on the screen and then poked Riku lightly on the side of his forehead.

Donald scoffed. "He needs it. Always meddling," the duck shook his head in defeat. He never could prevent Sora from breaking that rule.

"Hey, are you two Riku and Kairi?" Yuffie pointed at the pair through the screen. "Sorry I didn't ask before, but the blonde Sora caught my attention and then we got talking…You are though aren't you? I've never met you but Sora talked a lot about you guys."

Kairi blushed and left it up to Riku to answer. "Yeah, that's us. He's mentioned you guys several times as well. Yuffie, Aerith, Leon, Cid, and Cloud right?" he asked pointing towards each in turn.

Leon made a noise of approval though his closed mouth. "Sorry we can't meet you in person, or under better circumstances."

The silver haired teen shrugged. "Nothing you could do about it."

"How's the restoration going? Sora mentioned that last time he saw you guys the bailey was almost done." Kairi slipped off the armrest and just rested her weight against it. It was not a comfortable seat at all!

"It's going well," was Cloud's stoic reply.

"Yup! All thanks to me!" Yuffie fisted pumped the air. "Leon says I work the fastest."

Roxas was very willing to let the conversation go on. He was content with just experiencing everything first hand: the sound of voices on his ears, the hard surface of the armrest his fingers brushed over, the slight coarseness of his arm band on his skin, the glow of the computer screen, and the overall sharpness of everything around him since he was no longer looking through a filter. But as much as he relished these sensations, it wasn't worth the constant ache in his chest that pulsed like a twisted ankle. He wanted, _needed_, Sora.

Sora. The blonde closed his eye and reached out for the connection between the two of them. It was fainter, for sure. He was sure Sora could last a week, tops. But Roxas was not going to wait that long. If they were not headed over there as a group in a couple days he would take off on his own – even if he left the others stranded on a world without a gummi ship.

Even though the connection between them was growing weaker, Roxas was surprised to see that the volume of Sora's light was larger than it had been the night before. Larger, but weaker, less intense. It flickered, despite its size, and the blonde could not sit still much longer. He could not waste time.

"Mickey, we should get going."

The mouse heard the hidden strain and frowned internally. It was obvious the blonde had just checked up on his counterpart with poor results. He did not waste time in hopping out of his chair and on to his feet.

"It was nice talking to you guys, but Roxas is right. We have things to do here and we can't afford to waste time."

"Don't worry 'bout it," Cid said with a flick to his straw, "You have important things to do. Keep us updated though, okay? And we'll do the same."

"Sounds good," Riku had also risen and came to stand slightly behind his large eared friend.

The people on screen gave a brief wave before disconnecting.

"Roxas, huh." Cid leaned back in his chair, feet crossed and on the computer consul in front of him. "He looks a lot like Sora, but acts really different."

Leon shrugged. "They've gone through different things in life. It's bound to affect their personality."

"Well yeah, but its still creepy seeing a not happy-go-lucky Sora."

"You've seen Sora serious before, the kid knows how to fight and has stubborn determination." Leon recalled flashes of Sora wielding the keyblade against Sephiroth, refusing to go down without a fight.

"Yeah, for sure. But it's still unnerving to see. I can't help but wonder if Sora had the potential to turn out like that. It's not right."

"Hmm," Aerith interjected, "He's worried."

"We all are," Yuffie replied.

"Yes but, we worry from afar. If he's Sora's nobody, they share a connection right? So he should be able to tell exactly how Sora is doing."

"And it's not well," Cloud broke in, voice dripping with concern. "Did you see how on edge he was at the end? He's obviously more concerned about Sora than the others are. They don't know how bad it is."

"Mickey's got a clue," Leon leaned back a little to use the wall as a support.

"But, why doesn't Roxas just tell us what's going on?" Yuffie tilted her head to the side, finger on the right side of her mouth in puzzlement.

"You'd have to ask him. But I'm not one to pry." Leon closed his eyes. Yes, he did not like prying, but in this case he really wanted to.

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**A/N:** Hopefully you guys like this chapter better than the last one, it will never hold a dear place in my heart. And for those of you wanting more action, look foward to the next chapter ^_~


	9. A Pinch of Salt

**Endless Supply**

**Chapter 9 – A Pinch of Salt**

A thrum was evident in the air, a product of all the conversations going on in the market place. Prices were haggled over, deals shouted out to the crowd in the street, greetings were given, and plenty of 'sorry's were heard. The street was lined on either side with tented booths, leaving a narrow walkway for pedestrians to travel. It was inevitable that shoulders would be bumped, backs would be pushed, and toes stepped on.

Donald and Mickey had the worse of physical confrontations with the people of Agrabah, but also got the most heartfelt apologies. Being short may have some advantages, none of which were evident in this crowd. Eventually Riku made the suggestion to put the two of them in the middle of the group to much success.

"I've never seen so many people in one place!" Kairi bounced her eyes back and forth from one side of the bazaar to the other. "Or so many things!"

Riku chuckled. "Yeah, home's pretty tamed compared to this place. But our food it probably better because it's fresh." He frowned at a fish stall they were passing where flies hovered over the display.

Roxas shrugged. "Don't be so sure. I'll agree with you about the fish though." He wrinkled his nose a bit. "But some of the fruit here is quite good. And you won't find it in Destiny Islands."

"Really? I'ld love to try some. Oo, look Riku!" Kairi grabbed her friend's hand and pulled him across the traffic to a booth on the other side of the street. Roxas heard the apologies the two of them gave out to those the bumped into. With a shake of his head the blonde made his way over to the booth too, following the residents from Disney Kingdom.

"Sorry, excuse me, pardon me, sor--" Roxas felt a jolt of …something shoot up him arm from where he had bumped into someone and caught a faint whiff of sea salt. He stopped and looked around for who might have caused it, but his attention had been on the others in his group and thus he had no idea who he had contact with. Who ever he, or she, was they had felt familiar and strange at the same time, like hearing a voice that sounded like a friend only to realize that the speaker was a stranger. Roxas had a strong desire to chase after who ever it was.

"Hey watch it!" Roxas received a push from behind that was too hard to be accidental and returned to his senses. Standing stock still in the middle of traffic was a sure way to wind up with a bruise.

"Sorry," he muttered to no one in particular and crossed the rest of the street with out incident.

He found the rest of them searching the wares of a fruit stall up traffic a little bit and made his way toward them, refusing with a smile and a dismissive wave any of the offers of jewelry, clothing, or other kickshaws he received from stall owners.

Kiari was listening with rapt attention to the stall owner describe each of the fruit she offered, eyes wide and hungry. Next to her Riku stood with his arms crossed over his chest looking doubtful.

"How fresh is all this?" his voice was skeptic.

"Very fresh! I picked these yesterday morning."

"Try the pitaya," Roxas said coming up behind the group. "It's that orange-red one there. It has a lot of seeds, but spongy inside unlike anything else I've had."

"Alright!" Kairi brought her hands together at her chest in excitement. "6 please!" she told the vendor with a smile.

"Good choice Miss, very good choice."

"Can you cut them for us?" Roxas asked politely.

"Anything for a costumer as cute as you are," a saucy wink was given. Roxas blushed.

Donald's mouth watered as he watched the woman cut the fruit in half length ways and then made another long cut into the pulp of the fruit but stopped just before the skin; it allowed the edible part of the fruit to be accessed with just teeth as opposed to with a utensil. She gave every one half a fruit and tied the rest up in a make shift bag and handed it to Kairi.

"70 gil please,"

Kairi reached for her pouch by Riku placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'll get it. Save your money for something else."

He dropped the coins in the waiting hand. "Have a good day sir." Riku didn't respond and started walking down the street the rest of the faction in tow.

A sound of disgust came from the mage and all turned to see his screwed up face. "Its sour!" he exclaimed, holding the rind out in front of him and looking like never wanted to see it again.

"Hehheh, sorry about that. I guess I should have warned you guys. Take small bites." Roxas looked accusingly at piece Donald was holding, or rather at the quarter of it that was missing. A faint brush of pink appeared across the duck's face.

"This is actually pretty good," Riku said softly as if afraid to admit the potential to be wrong.

"Told ya'" Roxas smiled.

"So you've been here before Roxas?" Goofy asked after swallowing a bite.

"Yup, just once on a mission."

"Where to now?" Kairi took nibbled on her pitaya.

"The palace," Mickey said, "We need to check up on Jasmine."

"Right. This way," Riku took to the front of the group, eyes alert for the least troublesome path through the crown, mouth occupied with chewing.

Roxas hung back and took up the rear, scanning the area. The colors of the stalls blurred and faded from his attention while the people around him became clearer, sharper. That person who bumped him earlier still intrigued him and the sent of sea salt seemed to haunt him. If only he could find who ever that was! He concentrated on seeing and smelling, not paying attention to the sounds of the marketplace and just aware of touch. The apologies he gave out were toneless and automatic, his attention focused elsewhere.

The crowd all looked the same. Brown headgear, tan tops, caramel pants. Splashed of color were seen on belts and jewelry. Salt was in the air, but it was a spiced salt used for seasoning food. The salt he was looking for came from hours of swimming and lying on the beach.

A tug on his jacket hem loosed his concentration and the noises around him started to filter into his ears.

"Roxas?" The voice was worried, but calm, and was willing to help.

"Sea salt," the blonde said, "If you want to help, look for sea salt."

"Roxas?" Louder this time, and confused. Roxas blinked and looked down to see King Mickey by his side, a slight frown on the monarch's lips.

Concentration lost, all of Roxas's senses snapped back into their normal place. The blonde looked up to see Goofy's head bobbing along and light shining off Riku's hair in front of him. The gap was not large, but it could have been closer. Roxas shook his head and made to make up the gap.

"Roxas, are you alright?" Mickey kept pace with him, frown still in place and worry in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about." He looked straight ahead and not down at the mouse.

"Okay, just checking," his frowned evened out to become a serious line. It was obvious something was bothering Roxas, but it didn't seem to be serious. "Why were you looking for sea salt?"

Roxas blushed and stumbled into a man in front of him. "So sorry!" he said hastily to guy before him. The man waved it off and Roxas slowed his pace until it was even with that of the group Riku led. He really didn't want to explain to anyone why he was looking for the scent of sea salt. He could tell Mickey not to worry about it, but he if he did spill he knew the sovereign would not judge him. Plus he felt he owed it to Mickey in some way, and perhaps the mouse could help if the opportunity ever presented itself. Still, he took his time answering.

"Sora smells like sea salt," he said under his breath so only the mouse below could hear.

"Pardon?" Mickey jerked his head up, he had been willing to drop the subject since it seemed like the nobody did not want to talk about it.

"Sora smells like sea salt, and I ran into someone earlier who I thought smelled like it. I was trying to find him."

"I see," Mickey's voice was heavy with thought, but nothing seemed to show on his face.

"Stop! Thief! Someone grab that lad!" Roxas went on high alert and looked around. The voice came up the street and was accompanied with a shaking fist above the heads of the crowd member. Cries of indignation came from the people the thief pushed aside as he ran down the street against traffic. The blonde witnessed Riku get a hard bump on the shoulder and the look of annoyance that appeared on his face fade into one of alarm and surprise. Riku looked up and behind to catch Roxas's eye before the ruffian almost knocked down a young women in front the blonde.

Roxas froze. He smelled sea salt again, but it was very muted as if the scent was an after thought. It was coming from the figure before him. A dark tan hood covered his face and black boots were visible under the dust colored wrap he wore. As the thief passed Roxas he threw him a glance. Roxas's breathe hitched; blue eyes stared at him, eyes that should have felt familiar but did not. Something shifted behind those eyes and then they were gone, leaving a trail of disgruntled people.

Roxas stared at the make shift path for a moment before heading down it. He had only moved three steps when a large hand gripped his wrist. The keyblader prepared to twist to free himself from the grip and continue his chase when another equally large hand captured his other wrist and brought both of them together behind his back. Roxas struggled to get out of the strong hold.

"Listen, you've got the wrong guy! He went that way!" Roxas pointed toward the quickly disappearing trail with a chin jerk. "Now let me go!"

A throaty chuckle came from behind him and above; meaning the man who had seized him was a head taller. "I was right there when you stole from Altaf. I know it was you Theif! Taking your robe off won't fool me." He gave Roxas a bodily shake. "No one gets away with things on my watch." A kick to the back of his right knee caused the blonde to fall to a half kneel.

"Let me go," Roxas spoke in a cool, collected tone laced with a warning. He stared at the dirt underneath him, the trail left behind by the thief was gone.

"Hah hah! You sound like you think you could take me on. I'll tell you what," Roxas's wrists were transferred to a strong one handed grip and the sound of a sword being pulled from its scabbard sounded. The thin layer of ice that made contact with Roxas neck caused his body to tense.

"I don't think you could," the voice was whispered against Roxas's ear, hot air sending goose bumps down the blonde's neck. Who ever he was, this man was no stranger to a fight. Light started to twinkle around the wielder's hands.

"Hey now, that's the wrong person you've got there," Roxas looked up to see Mickey breaching the two foot bubble the crowd had formed around him and his captor. He stopped calling forth his keyblades

"You can't fool me, I saw this lad steal a ring," the man snarled.

Roxas made a weak move to through the man behind him off. "Look, I don't know what you're talk--" he stopped talking as more pressure was applied to his neck. Mickey shot him a worried glance.

"Here, look," Mickey placed a pouch hanging from his belt in to his hand and opened it. "If I give you money for the ring will you let him go?"

The man's eyebrow's furrowed in consideration. Roxas took opportunity to lean backwards to get away from the sword. A tight squeeze on his wrists caused him to wince and stop moving. Without a healing, tomorrow morning there would bruises in the shape of fingers on the sides of his wrists.

"How much was it?" Mickey asked as he started taking coins out from the pouch.

"300 gil,"

Roxas watched the mouse count the money out and mentally urged him to hurry up. His right thigh was straining to support his awkward position. Finally Mickey held out a cupped hand containing the money. The sword disappeared from Roxas's neck but another forceful wring on his wrists warned him against doing anything. The sword was sheathed and the hand was extended so Mickey could drop coins into it one by one enabling the man who held Roxas to check the mouse's math. Finding himself with 300 gil in his hand the man hmphed and placed it in a pocket. The man looked down at the blonde he held in his grasp.

"Let him go," Mickey said in a firm voice, shifting into a position easy to attack from.

"I'm gettin' to it!" he released one of Roxas's wrists and took the other in both his hands. There was snap and Roxas let out a muted scream before he was pushed face first to the ground.

The man glared at Mickey as if daring him to do something and then turned to be swallowed up by the crowd. The king stared after him for a moment before hurrying over to Roxas's side. The blonde pushed himself up from the ground to a sitting position with a hiss of pain.

"Are you alright?" Mickey's voice was higher than usual with concern.

"I'm fine," Roxas rubbed his neck with his left hand to make sure the sword had not cut him. "Just a few bruises and," A hiss escaped him as he tried to circle his right wrist, " and a broken wrist it looks like."

"Come on, let's get you up before we get trampled on," Mickey helped Roxas to his feet as the bubble that had been around them got smaller and smaller. "Let's find the others."

The rest of the gang was not too far way, about 7 stalls down and in a side street.

"Roxas!" Kairi exclaimed at seeing his dirty face and how he held his wrist. "What happened?"

"We ran into some trouble with a guard," Mickey sighed.

"Yeah," Roxas's voice was bitter, "He thought I was the thief."

"He did feel like you when he bumped into me," Riku voiced.

"Really? I was reminded of…of Sora."

Riku threw a sharp glance at the nobody and Mickey looked at him in curiosity as well.

"Any way," Roxas shrugged, "there's no trail to follow so we'll just have to wait for him to show up again. Come on, we have get to the palace."

"Shouldn't we heal you first, hyuck?" Goofy asked with concern.

Roxas shook his head. "Not here. Lets find some place where the glow of the keyblades or the spell won't be noticed," he slipped back into the moving crowd, careful to shield his right wrist.

"Roxas, wait up!" Kairi went after him, followed by a sighing Riku. Mickey looked to his subjects and after a shrug from Goofy the three of them exited as well.

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**A/N:** So, as I'm sure you guys can tell things tend to pick up from here. Hopefully you guys liked this chapter, I certainly enjoyed writing it, as well as the ending for the next one. It's the middle of ch. 10 that needs some work. -_-' Sorry this is out later than I was expecting, my classes this year are filled with readings and I really don't have any free time. But I'll still be writing, albeit a bit slowly.


	10. Reckless Abandonment

**Chapter 10 – Reckless Abandonment **

Kairi had never seen a castle before, but she had read about a few of them. They were grey structures made of large blocks of stone and lots of mortar. Tall circular towers were a must and the walls were finished with up jutting pieces of rectangular stone at regular intervals, looking like teeth. Sometimes there was a moat, sometimes there were multiple flags flying from poles, but there was always an iron wrought fence and a grand driveway for carriages. So she was expecting something similar to be in Agrabah.

Instead she could only gape at the structure before her. It was white, not grey, and the towers were topped in sun catching gold. The walls were smooth, obviously not made of pieces of stone or brick. She ran her hand along one and found that it was not as smooth as it looked, her fingers detected bumps galore. The walls, though several stories tall, were very short compared to the tall towers that protruded from them and flat on top. She wondered what archers hid behind during a battle. Then again, maybe this world did not have archers. They certainly did not have any horse drawn carriages that she saw, a fact more pronounced by the lack of a long driveway. And that iron wrought gate? Try a tall elaborately carved wooden one.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Aladdin asked coming up behind her. She mutely nodded.

Donald and Goofy had led them to Aladdin's home in the upper levels of the city. It was an out of view place, perfect to perform a healing, and it would not hurt to see a friendly face. It was quite a task to get up there to begin with, and Kairi winced at the memory of seeing Roxas fall and having to try a second and third time to get up there. At first he had forgotten to not use his right hand (don't ask her how) and apparently his left hand was not conditioned for grabbing on to ledges and pulling himself up. On his third go Riku had to help the other keyblader up.

Once inside the living space it was discovered that Aladdin was home. Goofy and Donald introduced everyone and the three of them did a brief catch up from when they had last seen each other while Kairi brought out True to Heart to cure Roxas. Aladdin had been upset after learning about what had happened to Sora and expressed a desire to join them in their quest to save Sora but could not. If foul things were about, his place was with Jasmine. That being said he joined them on their journey to the palace enabling the group to take a route limited in crowds. She did not quite get it, but Roxas seemed almost disappointed at not being able to swim through masses of people.

"How do we get in?" Goofy asked, craning his neck back to look up at the doors.

"We'll go in through the side door," Aladdin supplied, jerking a finger to the right. "These are really only used for events and processions," he turned in the indicated direction and everyone fell into line.

Roxas took an extra minute to look at the door before stepping away from it. The mission assigned to him by the Organization that brought him here solely required him to be in the city itself so he had never ventured near the palace. Standing before it now, he really was impressed. He had always gotten a gloomy feel from such places in the past so it was a nice change to see one that radiated regal light and positive power.

He turned to trail behind the rest of the group when he caught a flurry of movement on top of the wall out of the corner of his eye. The blonde turned his head to get a better look but there was nothing there. He shook his head and jogged a little to catch up with Riku. There was no need to imagine trouble; he had enough real trouble already today.

The door Aladdin led them too was nothing special. It looked like any of the dozen doors they had passed on their way to the palace walls. Well, aside from the guard standing near it. He was checking a cartful of fruit to give it a clean bill of passage before transferring crates from the cart to the waiting arms of servants. Once he was done the Agrabah native approached with a smile and wave.

"How are you today Haydar?"

"Not bad Aladdin, not bad. And yourself? Off to see the princess?"

"Heh, you caught me," the youth said with a blush, "Hey, these are friends of Jasmine's who haven't seen her in a while. Can you let them in too?"

"As long as they don't 'ave weapons on them," He spit off to the side to eye the group of people standing behind Aladdin and beckoned them forward with a curling finger.

Roxas stepped up to plate first, arms elevated to the side. Haydar circled around, nodded in approval, and then asked Roxas to remove his coat so he could check it for hidden knives. After finding none he returned the article of clothing to the blonde and gave him the okay to pass through the door. The checks for the others were just as quick. Roxas wondered if the guard even knew that weapons could be summoned or hidden in places other than a coat or pocket – such as a boot or a hair bun. For such a lax security check, there must not be much violence in Agrabah.

Due to a lack of servants they ended up helping to transport fruit to the kitchen. Aladdin took off to find Jasmine and Mickey joined him in hopes to find either the Sultan or Genie to bring them up to date on the worlds' affairs. They would meet in the gardens outside the kitchen as soon said people were found. Aladdin gave them direction to the kitchen (follow the wall to the left, take the third path, go past the water fountain, then turn right, and take the second left) with a promise to see them soon. Being the only one with out a box to carry, Kairi waved them goodbye.

They took their time getting to the kitchen to get a good look at the grounds; none of them had ever set foot inside the palace before. The gardens they walked through were saturated with the sound of hidden fountains and bird songs. The grass was the greenest they had ever seen. Kairi ran her hand through it and informed the group it was soft and spongy too. The paths were nicely groomed and dustless. Flowers were evident on select trees that gave off a scent of honey nectar. Bushes were nearly all trimmed into animal shapes.

"Donald, Goofy," Kairi began slowly, "Is that you and Sora?" She pointed to a tall green structure through the spray of the fountain they were passing.

The cluster of warriors circled the fountain to stand in front of the piece of greenery.

"While I'll be," Goofy said with awe, "That's us!"

"Am I really that short?" Donald asked with a furrowed brow. He looked from the lawn ornament version of Sora to Roxas. The blonde gave a fox smile.

"Yes you are."

"Bwahaawaw!" the magician ruffled his feathers and chased after Roxas.

"Wait for me guys!" Goofy called out as he started after them.

Kairi giggled and Riku shook his head in defeat. The red head clasped her hands behind her back as she watched them run around the fountain. "Do you think they had fun like that with Sora on his adventures?"

"Most likely. I'm glad I wasn't with them; I would have just had one migraine after another."

Kairi lifted a hand to her mouth and giggled. "You don't mean that."

"No," he said with a soft sigh and turned around to look at the shrubbery version of his best friend. "But I had other things to do for half of it. Look Kairi, I'm sorry this is a little late but I'm sorry for--"

She put a finger to his lips to stop him. "Don't worry about it," her hands came together behind her back again and she looked up at the figure of Sora. "I know what you did you did for me. You and Sora had the same goal, but just…went about it different ways. But I know you were thinking of me," she turned to look at him. "So there's nothing to apologize for. Besides, you chose your path because you're Riku. If you had chosen anything else you wouldn't be the friend I know and love. And I wouldn't change you for anything."

"Even if it meant Sora was safe and here with us?" he spoke in a low tone and did not look at her.

She took longer than he wanted to answer, but she still did. "No. Even if it meant Sora was with us now. Because I'm sure something sometime would have popped up. Sora always got into trouble for helping others and your choices, past and future, will never change that. We just have to return the favor."

"I feel like no matter what I do, I'll never be deserving of his friendship." His shoulders sagged.

"Don't say that!" Kairi moved to stand in front of Riku to look him in the eyes. "You're his best friend! You found Roxas and brought him to Sora so he could regain his memories. You did everything you could to help him last year! And always strived to be better so he could beat you. You taught him drive, gave him a purpose, showed him how to improve in all matter of things. He doesn't blame you for anything that happened when you were with Maleficent. And I know he would tell you the same himself if he was here."

Riku saw the fire burning in her eyes that left no room for argument, no matter how much he felt he should. He closed his eyes in defeat and spoke in a heavy voice. "Okay Kairi. Now come on, we've dallied long enough. They need these in the kitchen." He lifted the box a little to present as evidence, then turned and relayed the suggestion to the other three who were in the middle of a water fight in the fountain.

"Riku's right. Come on guys," Roxas stepped out of the fountain and wrung out a corner of his shirt, water hitting the cement with a dull thud.

Goofy and Donald followed suit, the later with good-natured grumbling. Picking up their boxes they waited for Kairi and Riku to join then before setting off to complete the chore.

If they had known what was in store for them they would have done the delivery first and explored later. The cook had extra cinnamon buns form breakfast that she gave them after warming a tray up in the oven. They took the treat out side to eat, seeing shapes in the clouds while they licked their fingers.

"I swear Kairi, that one looks like the stuffed chocobo you used to sleep with," Roxas pointed toward a cloud directly above.

"You know, I think so to. What did you call at again Kairi? Something Birdie wasn't it? Mr. Birdie?" Riku turned his head sideways to grin at Kairi.

"It's Benny Bird," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "That one there," she pointed toward one at four o'clock, "Looks like a giraffe. Remember when you didn't believe that they existed and I used the encyclopedia to prove it to you?"

Donald scoffed in disbelief.

"Hey! You said it was taller than town hall, and that was the largest thing I had ever seen. I needed proof!" Riku poked her in the side, releasing a giggle.

"You didn't believe in giraffes but accepted the idea of multiple worlds?" Roxas shook his head with a laugh. "Really, Riku." He laughter stopped as he abruptly sat up.

"Roxas?" Riku propped himself up on elbow and looked him with concern. The blonde held a finger up to indicate to give him a moment.

Somewhere near by a keyblade had been summoned, and since it was not anyone with him and it certainty was not Sora, it could only be King Mickey or one of the nobodies that Maleficent had created. Checking the keyblade inventory for the Inverse Kingdom Key, Mickey's favorite, and finding it not in use he had his answer. It had to be a nobody! Roxas mentally cursed himself.

"The thief," he groaned and he pushed himself up to stand.

"Care to explain?" Riku pushed himself in a sitting position, as did everyone else. He looked around for Aladdin and Mickey to no avail.

"The thief was another one of Sora's nobodies," Roxas turned in a circle, looking for what he was not sure. "That's why he was somewhat familiar."

Noises and shots were coming from the direction of the palace. Roxas turned toward it. "Now why—JASMINE!"

Roxas took off running toward the palace, not hearing the others behind him call his name as they scrambled up and summoned their blades. Why did he not see it sooner?! The nobody had blue eyes because _his_ were blue and the smell of sea salt was a left over of Sora. If he had only figured it out sooner and got the nobody, the Princess of Heart would not be in danger right now!

Shouts between guards were thrown through the garden's air but Roxas kept running toward the area he felt the key was summoned to. He stretched his arms out, hands cocooned in a flurry of fairy lights as Oblivion and Oathkeeper materialized in his waiting palms. He sharpened his sense of the light, allowing him to better judge where he was needed and as a result the rest of his senses dulled.

The dual wieldier rushed toward the scene he was just seen leaving and ran into waiting, angry guards who did not give a thought to how he could change locations so quickly, how he changed clothes so quickly, or why he switched weapons. All they saw was a spiky haired blonde with fierce blue eyes wielding weapons that looked like keys. He fit the description and they attacked without a second thought.

Roxas felt two pinpricks on the side of his neck, nothing more than a bug landing and taking a bite. He brought his hand up to brush it off and encountered two darts instead. The blonde felt of moment of puzzlement before his fingers and toes went numb. It did not take long for the feeling to encompass his entire body and he crashed to the ground, his vision blurry. He thought he saw a group of colored blobs running his way. They might have been screaming, but he did not notice. Nothing seemed to work, and eventually his sluggish brain shut down as well.

* * *

**A/N: **There you go, chapter 10 is up! Things are really starting to progress now, but we still have a couple chapters to go yet. 3 or 4 I'm guessing. This thing is turning into a beast, my longest story ever!

This chapter is dedicated to who ever voted for me to work on this story for NaNoWriMo in my poll. Sadly however, this story is no longer the one with the most votes so I will be working on something else most of the time. But I do have the next chapter and a half (?? don't know if I want to spilt it yet) already written so you can expect to see more from this fic in December for sure. Don't like that, then go vote for this fic!

Reviews, commets, questions?


	11. Trust’s Simulacrum

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix, not me.

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Endless Supply

_by Uniasus

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_

**Chapter 11 – Trust's ****Simulacrum**

"Ugg," his groan of pain echoed through the room he was in, choosing to stay and aggravate his headache instead of leaving. He cracked his eyes open and sat up, only to lean against the wall at his back. The motion made his head throb, so he closed his eyes and gently rocked his head back to be supported by the stone.

After a few stabilizing moments he opened his eyes again, staring at the ceiling. It was stone, as were the walls surrounding him. The floor was comprised of a layer of rough sand, over more stone. No wonder he was cold. The only light came from a small window, high up. Roxas got the impression he was underground.

He sighed, what had he gotten into this time and where was he? An attempt to run his hand through his hair was halted by the cuffs on his wrist. Wonderment crossed his features, how come he had not noticed them before? Or for that matter, the manacle around his left ankle? He frowned at the wrist cuffs, looking for keyholes to use his keyblade on and found none. They had been made just for him, as a confinement for a keyblade wielder. The interior against his wrists was smooth, proof that he was the first person clasped in the pair.

The one on his ankle, connecting him via a chain to the wall was not so new however and had not been built with a keyblader in mind. Calling forth Oblivion he cradled the weapon awkwardly between his cuffed hands and pointed it at the iron keyhole. It glowed, warming his skin before a soft _click_ entered the silence around him, followed by the much louder clanking of the metal restraint falling to the ground. Roxas winced as the sound sharpened his headache. His next wince was stronger as a noise penetrated his skull as suddenly and inhibiting as burning his tongue on a too hot drink.

"Roxas!"

Riku's face, or he though it was Riku's, peered at him from the tiny window. He was too far away to make out the details of the face on the other side of the bars, but he did not know anyone else with that shade of hair.

"Riku!"

Roxas scrambled to his feet, albeit too quickly. The room spun and he had to support himself with the wall.

"Hey! You okay?"

"Yea, just a little light headed," he took a couple of steadying breaths. "What happened?"

"You took off running and by the time we reached you, the guards had already taken you out."

"I only remember blobs of color…"

"They drugged you with something. Geez Roxas, be more careful next time! Pay attention to your surroundings."

Roxas took small steps towards the window to see the other teen better.

"Sorry. Someone had drawn a keyblade and I was concentrating on getting to them. It think it was another one of me."

"Yeah, we gathered that," Riku's soft sigh reached the blonde's ears, "He came and took Jasmine."

"Dang it! I thought so, I was trying to stop him."

"You were a little late. You description spread among the guards pretty quickly and they attacked you without second thought. Kairi, Mickey, and Aladdin are trying to set things straight. Try not to do something that looks like an escape, it will only hurt their story."

"Um…oops?"

"What do you mean, 'oops'?!"

"Did you find him Riku?" Goofy's voice drifted into the dungeon.

Riku backed up a little bit to talk to the Disney warrior. "Hey guys, yeah I found him."

Riku's face left the window to be replaced by Goofy's and Donald's. "How ya doing, Roxas?" Goofy called down.

He shrugged in response. "So-so. I'm getting a little hungry."

Donald snorted and backed away to let Riku back in.

"What did you mean by 'oops'?" The silverette asked again.

Pink tints of embarrassment touched Roxas's face. "I unlocked the manacle that chained me to the wall. I left the cuffs on though, see?" He lifted his hands up as proof.

Riku let out a small groan. "Keep them on, please and be a good prisoner." His face disappeared and only his shoes became visible instead. Roxas figured he must be at least ten feet under ground if there was such a space between the window and the cell floor.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Riku crouched down again to answer, "To interview the guards. I want to find out what happened from someone who saw it now that we know where you are. Don't worry; King Mickey has great diplomacy skills. You should be out before the day is over." He gave a little wave before walking off, taking Donald and Goofy with him.

"Great," Roxas muttered darkly to himself, sliding down the wall. He was just supposed to sit here and wait? A sigh of acceptance escaped his lips; it was not like he had any other choice.

- - - -

A grating, creaking sound woke Roxas his nap. He looked up into the dark corner on the opposite side of the room where it came from. The light from the window did not penetrate that far, but warm orange light spread out from the corner as a door opened. A guard stood there, holding a lantern. Behind him were Kairi and Mickey.

"Roxas?" the girl called out.

The light from the window had moved across the floor through out the day, so it no longer lighted on Roxas.

"Here," he called, slowly getting to his feet and walking into the weak light of the waning sun coming from the window.

The red head ran to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Roxas stood there accepting it, not that he could do much with his handcuffed wrists, even while he wished he could pat her back in a gesture of comfort.

"Are you hurt?" She pulled back a little to look at him.

"I'm a little light headed and feel like I could use a good night's sleep, but other that that I'm good." He gave a soft smile.

"Good," taking his hand she led him to the door.

"I'm sure you've noticed by now, but we had those made just for you," the guard pointed toward the shackles on Roxas's wrist with the tool in his hand. "This'll get them off. Keep your hands steady."

Roxas extended his hands as far away as possible and allowed the guard to work. The Agrabahan put the tip of the tool in the chain link that kept his right cuff on his wrist and pulled the handles apart. The link groaned as the open connection in the link was forced apart, leaving enough room to separate the chain from the cuff and allowing the guard to open the manacle and release Roxas's wrist. He repeated the procedure on the other side and then placed all three pieces in a burlap bag.

"There you go," the guard placed the tool in the bag as well before turning around and leading the way out of the dungeons. Kairi fell into place behind him while Roxas and Mickey climbed the stairs after them.

"So what happened?" Roxas asked the sovereign, "Riku told me someone who looks like me appeared and took Jasmine?"

Mickey gave a heavy sigh. "It sounds like it was the same person we ran into at the market, and the use of a keyblade confirms he was another one of Sora's nobodies. Plus now we're positive that they're after the Princesses," he shook his head. "I'm getting worried. The nobody grabbed Jasmine in brood daylight with plenty of people in the room and then disappeared in a dark portal. There has to be a reason why they made such a messy move. It worked, but Maleficent usually isn't so showy. Nor her partner. I have a hunch they're feeling rushed."

Roxas kept quite, thinking. What would make them pressed for time? Sora's condition? Something else they were not aware off? Simply impatience?

"I don't like it either," he said after while, "but Sora doesn't seem to have gotten worse by any great means while we've been here."

"That's good to hear," the relief in Mickey's voice was tangible.

"He's strong," Kairi swung her hands behind her back, "He'll be okay."

"Yeah, you're right Kairi," the blonde responded. He got a bright smile in return but he could only conjure up a faint one to show her.

By this time their group had made it out of the dungeon to a hallway lit by flaming torches.

"Roxas!" Goofy and Donald rushed up to him, somehow concealing their bubbliness.

"Hey, guys. I'm fine."

"Good. And now you leave," grunted the guard behind them.

Roxas looked over his shoulder at him.

"We're to be escorted back to the gummi ship," Mickey provided. "There's not much we can do here anyway."

Somehow, Roxas got the idea that the kingdom of Agrabah did not want him around and he was thankful for what ever enabled him to get out of dungeon, whether it was the king's diplomacy skills or some idea about keybladers they got from Sora's visits.

"Right," he started down the hallway, following the dim light that most likely led to an archway outside. The rest of his party fell in behind him and Roxas noticed the forms of guards unmesh from the walls and pace them. He was glad when they reached the gummi ship.

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**A/N:** Finally, an update right? Go ahead, press that little review button down below and tell me what you think. But what ever you do, don't brag about how much more snow you have. Just because the snow here isn't sticking on the ground doesn't mean you can gloat over the inches you have!

*ahem*

:D


	12. Hiding in Plain Sight

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts and all that associated are the property of Square Enix. Boo

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Endless Supply

_By Uniasus

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_

**Chapter 12 – Hiding in Plain Sight**

The first thing Roxas did when they landed in Wonderland was to grab a couple handfuls of berries, chemicals from storage, and then lock himself up in the bathroom.

The rest of the crew exchanged glances. Goofy tip-toed up to the door and knocked. "Roxas?"

"Yeah?" Came the muffled response amid noises of bottles being handled.

"Gwa, what are you doing?"

There was a pause, Roxas himself trying to think of a reason why this idea popped into his head. "So what happened at the last world won't happen again."

Riku and Kairi shared a shrug. "What part?" the silverette asked, "Getting poisoned or getting jailed?"

"Hopefully both."

"How yah going to do that?" Donald quacked.

"Give me forty minutes and I'll show you. Kairi, hope you don't mind I'm using some of your hair stuff."

"Yum, okay. Wait, what?"

The only answer was indiscernible sounds from beyond the door. They all turned to look at each other, and then all the attention was focused on King Mickey. The mouse shrugged. "Anyone want lunch before we head out?"

"I'm game," Kairi knocked on the door to get Roxas's attention. "Roxas, we'll be in the galley."

"Right. I'll be there when I'm done."

"Can we have fish?" Donald asked trailing behind Mickey as they made their way down the hallway. "They never have good fish in Agrabah."

After most of an hour had past, the room was filled with the sound of cleaning dishes. It all stopped though when Roxas stepped through the doorway.

"Roxas," Kairi began in a gentle manner, "Did you know your hair is a really vibrant purple?"

The ex-blonde collapsed into an empty chair with a huff. "Yes, but I thought it would turn out black. I've never seen darker berries!" He threw his hands up in the air and then brought them down to cross in front of his chest.

"This was your plan?" Riku smirked. Roxas just glared.

"Huack, well, he does look different now," Goofy started poking Roxas's hair. "They won't think he's a bad nobody now, right?"

"Hopefully," Donald appeared next to Goofy. "If not I could always transform you Roxas."

"I'ld like to stay human, thanks."

"I think you'd look cute with bunny ears," Kairi tugged on a hair spike. Riku snickered and even Mickey hid his mouth behind his hands.

"I think not!" Roxas jumped out of his chair. "Come on, don't we have an audience with the Queen soon?" He stomped out of the room and headed towards the gummi ship's external doors.

The Queen of Hearts had been rather pissed that they asked if she had seen Alice. So instead of answering their question she had gone on a rant about how important she was, to this world and those amongst the stars. Roxas did not know if she lacked the knowledge that Alice was a Princess of Heart (in which case kudos for Alice for her hiding skills) or if the queen was just that much of an egoist and stupid.

Mickey was doing most of the talking, Donald and Goofy flanking him as warriors of Disney Kingdom. Riku, Roxas noticed, mirrored him in having twitchy hands that glowed from time to time.

"Stop it!" Kairi hissed into their ears from behind them. "She's aggravating sure, but holding a keyblade to her throat will not result in answers!"

"Yeah, well neither is this!" Riku hissed back.

"We would do better to search the world," Roxas glanced toward the entrance to the forest. "Split off into pairs, this world has many pockets but they all pretty much branch out from a center one. It wouldn't take that long to search."

"That girl who painted my roses red?!" came a screech from the tall podium. "No, no I have not!"

The three humans shared a look and allowed King Mickey to ease her through the tantrum. Fifteen minutes later the Queen had them sent from her presence and they were surround by giant flowers and even taller trees in the Lotus Forest.

"So myself and Kairi are the only ones who have not been here before, correct?" Mickey asked.

"Yeup!" Goofy nodded.

"I'll take Kairi," Riku said giving the red head beside him a no nonsense look.

"Righto. I'll go with Roxas then. Will you be alright on your own you two?" Mickey turned to his subjects.

"Phsaw, don't worry about us Your Majesty." Donald waved a feathered hand in dismissal.

"Right, I'm counting on you guys. After you clear out your area, met back here to check in." Mickey looked at them and received nods all around before they split off.

Roxas and Mickey were the last to depart. "Lead the way Roxas!"

The violet haired keyblader led the way to elevated lily pads on their left and jumped from one to another, gaining height as he did so. He slipped into the hole waiting for him and once the darkness ended landed in a crouch on one of the walls of the Bizzare Room, now the floor. Mickey landed next to him.

A lion's head ornament stared at them, as well as two burning lamps. The painting on the floor seemed to ripple, but it held firm. A couple red nocturnes appeared as the two stepped forward. Roxas ran and jumped, getting in two strikes on his target that caused it to fade away, and landed with his feet splayed and Oblivion thrown out to the right. Mickey had cast Blizzara on his target and it dropped, it's heart moving on to Kingdom Hearts.

They attracted a few more heartless as they searched through the region, eventually scaring up a flock of air soldiers and a trine of large bodies. Roxas left the flying foes to the sovereign and took on the obese heartless himself. An Arc Arcanum took care of one rather easily, but depleted his magic.

He struck a blow at the one standing before him to get his attention and then jumped over its head to land three blows to its back. The creature was pushed forward and fell onto its rump on the other side of the painting. Roxas ran at the heartless, but when he was halfway across the painting he found his leg knocked out from underneath him, someone pressed on top of him, the painting's portal opening, and he fell into darkness with his ears ringing from Mickey calling his name.

So much for having different colored hair getting him out of scrapes.

Roxas landed on his back in a secluded grotto, left arm in a puddle of water and the weight of a body on top of him. But not just any body, _his own_. The person who had toppled him and brought him through the portal back to the Lotus Garden was none other than another one of Sora's nobodies.

They stared at each other for a moment before Roxas broke the silence. "Who are you?"

The answer was a flash of light and Lady Luck against he throat. Roxas noticed it was trembling and he took care not to make any sudden movement that could result in an injury. He looked up at his double and mentally did a double take.

He looked awful; dark circles underneath his eyes and limp hair that only gave half an attempt to be in it's natural spikes. He was also unnaturally thin, his elbows pointy and Roxas could see the other nobody's fingers were bonier than his own.

"Are you okay?" Roxas knew this was an enemy, that his creation had caused Sora pain, but he was a still a part of Sora regardless. One that might have news of the brunette because he actually came from the same world. But also, to see himself so sickly threw him off guard. What would make him give up eating and sleeping?

_Worry for Sora._

"Is Sora alright right?" He blurted out.

The face above him blinked, "Who?"

Roxas had honestly expected an answer of yes, or maybe an 'I don't know', but to not know who Sora, his somebody, was -- the thought sent his mind reeling. Did this new crew of nobodies even know what they were?

Before Roxas got the chance to ask Lady Luck's heart blade was pressed more closely against the side of his neck. "How do you manage?" the nobody above him asked.

"What?"

"How do you manage?!" the blonde nobody pushed himself off of Roxas and started pacing back and forth in the small space closed off from the rest of the forest by abnormally tall grass.

"Manage what?" Roxas watched his other pace, back and forth, back and forth. He was…jittery.

"The highs and lows, the up and downs. You're living!" he threw up his hands, "You've gotten out of her grip! How did you do it?" the nobody stalked towards Roxas and grabbed his shoulders and started shaking. "We all feel the same way, and yet here you are, living a normal life."

"I don't know that you're talking about!" Roxas shouted in his face. That seemed to shut the other one up.

"You never got the memories?" He breathed, dropping his arms and stepping away from Roxas.

"Never got the…I have all the memories."

"What are the names of your companions?" the blonde snapped at him.

"Mickey, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy," Roxas said in confusion.

The nobody whispered their names under his breath and then stared in wonderment at Roxas. "You don't forget?" He hurriedly approached Roxas, arm out stretched but he seemed scared to touch him.

"You do?"

"Yes," the other Roxas seemed to wilt and he turned away. "We never remember for more than a few minutes."

"But you remember remembering," Roxas reached out and snagged the other's wrist, "Right?" _Yes_, the silence seemed to say. "You want the memories?"

"Roxas!" the former blonde spun around to see Mickey drop out of the sky and land on his feet behind him. The nobody wrenched his hand out of Roxas's grip and then high leaped out of the grotto. Roxas did not make any move to stop him.

"Are you alright?" Mickey asked as he stepped next to Roxas.

"Yeah. Mickey, they don't have Sora's memories."

"But they shouldn't right?" the mouse asked, "Sora's not a heartless."

"Not for long, but I think they get flooded with memories when he is."

"And then they forget soon after?"

"Yes, but they're aware that they had the memories. Wanting to remember was driving that nobody to his body's limits. He said something about up and downs, wanting to know how to manage them. There's a good chance the others are the same."

Mickey was silent for awhile. "Maleficent using the memories as a drug, something to keep them in line."

"Yes," Roxas whispered, "But I don't think it's an unlimited supply." He closed his eyes and tried to find his connection with Sora. It was so faint. "Soon that supply will be gone, and then what? That nobody who snagged me looked really bad Mickey, and I'm sure that their contact with Sora's memories is minimal already."

"Naminé will return them Sora, and everything will be fine."

"And if Sora can't last that long?"

Mickey shot the purple haired teen a look. "They're you. What would you do?"

"Give myself to the heartless."

"Roxas!" Mickey stepped in front of the teen and looked up into his face. "Promise me you won't. Promise me!" He hissed.

Roxas looked to the side, unable to look the monarch in the eyes. "I can't," he whispered and jumped over the grass walls.

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**A/N:** O.O Roxas completely just dropped that line on me. I swear, I was not planning on turning him sucicidal! Please don't kill me.

But you have to admit, it's just proof that Sora and Roxas are meant to be!


	13. In a Rush

Endless Supply

**Chapter 13 – In A Rush****  
**

_By Uniasus_

* * *

Roxas marched out of the Lotus Forest and headed straight for the gummi ship. He may or may not have heard someone calling after him, the voice was rather faint, but he never gave it time to turn into someone calling his name. No, he just went straight to the gummi ship.

Giving himself up to the heartless would not really do the terrible awful things to him that it would to do say, Riku or Goofy, but it would change him. He would not be the person he was now and so the sentiment was the same. Without Sora, there was no point to his existence and so Roxas would end it. And if the heartless left him with memories of Sora and the heartache to go with it, well, he'd just have to convince Riku to take him down. He'd trick the silverette if he had to.

He did not understand how the Organization members, himself included, had been able to keep on going. It could have been the strive to regain their hearts, but Roxas had a sickening feeling that if whatever Sephiroth and Maleficant were planning now succeeded, Sora would be able to do so. Overcome hearts could overthrow the blankets of darkness if they were strong enough, as Sora had proved, but it was a different matter all together if the heart was destroyed. More than just glass and bones could shatter if under enough stress. More than wells and bank accounts could dry up. And when that happened there was no cure.

Roxas slammed the door to his room behind him. No shouts of protest drifted down the hall, there was no one to utter them anyway. Griping his violet hair, the nobody collapsed, his back slowly moving down the door until he landed in a crumpled ball.

He found that internal connection to Sora and became memorized by it. The light was weak, hard to find, and softly sputtered like a candle about to go out. And yet, strangely, despite its weak glow it was enormous. So large in fact Roxas had trouble comprehending the difficulty he had gone through to locate it moments before. But it still felt wrong, sick, and he just knew time was running short.

If he stayed with the group, he would never make it in time.

* * *

King Mickey and the other Disney Kingdom residents were already waiting by the entrance to the forest by the time Kairi and Riku finished and made their way to the meeting spot after scouring their sections.

"Where's Roxas?" Riku asked, looking around for the other keyblader.

Mickey did not meet his eyes and led the group back towards the _Pilaki_, crossing into the Queen of Heart's garden. "He went on ahead. Roxas had a bit of a run in with another one of Sora's nobodies and was shaken by it. Apparently they don't know who Sora is, and their memories keep coming and going."

"Maleficent's doing." Donald sputtered.

"Yes, and the nobody did not look very healthy." The sovereign paused and then turned around to look at Kairi. "Roxas seemed to believe that the condition of the nobody was related to Sora's, that he doesn't have a lot of time." He contemplated saying what Roxas had threatened to do, but before he could decide his thoughts were interrupted.

"Why hello there!"

The group looked up and to their left to see a purple cat slowly materialize.

"Hello!" Goofy returned, waving his shield in greeting.

Donald was not so pleasant; he crossed his feathered arms and took to tapping a webbed foot. "What do _you_ want?" he sputtered.

"Donald!" Mickey admonished.

"What?!"

"I gotta agree with Donald on this one Mickey," Riku threw in, "the Cheshire Cat's never been extremely helpful."

"I'm hurt," said cat rolled onto his back, paws under his chin, "I am trying to be nice. I figured that I'd let you know what you're looking for isn't here."

Riku gave a questioning look and Mickey sighed in defeat.

"I had a feeling Alice wasn't here," the mouse sighed, "but I didn't want to stop looking until I was sure. Do you know who took her?"

"Hmm, he's a part of your party."

"Uhag, I'd think we'd know if we had a bad guy traveling with us," Goofy said.

"I think he means one of Sora's other nobodies. They're pretty hard to tell from Roxas," Riku responded.

"Maybe. Also, you might want to find your missing members before they're gone," the feline said as it faded from view.

"Missing?" Mickey asked. "No, Roxas went to the gummi ship and we're all here."

"Actually," Riku said, noting the empty space besides him, "Kairi's gone too."

* * *

The _Pilaki_ was filled with a pressing quite when Kairi stepped on to it. She didn't like it; it reminded her of the emptiness in her heart. The floor startled her as it thrummed to live beneath her; she hurried to the cockpit.

There was Roxas, fumbling with buttons and pre-flight checks as he buzzed from panel to panel. Kairi had heard stories of Sora flying a gummi ship and high suspected the Roxas's skill were on par with that. Not that her own skills where much better, but she did have a ghost of an idea of what to do. She had been so fascinated by flying she had kept asking Donald questions.

"Roxas?"

The nobody spun around in surprise. He looked at her for a moment with narrowed eyes, as if making sure it was her. "Kairi? What are you doing here?"

"I…um…that is," she didn't want to sound silly and so turned her gaze to the floor. "I used to be able to feel Sora, here." Kairi placed a hand over her chest and lifted her head to look at Roxas. "But I can't now. Something's happened, has it? We're running out of time."

The purple haired teen ducked his head and went back to the controls. "Yeah, we're running out of time. We have to leave _now_ and not wait to check other worlds first."

There was a period of silence as neither one said anything thing and then Kairi made her way over to a near by panel. "Well then, you'll need my help. Goofy _and_ Donald do things to get this in the air."

"Kairi, I don't want you getting hurt."

The Princess of Light looked up at him and out right glared. "_Roxas, you need me._" It was her speaking, at least, it was her voice. But the confidence and assurance that filled her was something that wasn't hers, she was nervous and slightly afraid. The emotion belonged to someone else, and yet her at the same time. It was…weird.

And Roxas was looking at her as if he noticed, but then gave a grin that looked so much like Sora's it made her heart ache. "I know," he simply said, and then went back to work.

There was that double emotion again, confusion and a smugful/prideful satisfaction.

_Naminé?_

_Yes._

That was all Kairi needed; help, from within and without. She wondered if Sora ever felt like this, fretting over what he had to face but all the negative emotions and thoughts wrapped up tightly and surrounded by the feeling that he had what mattered most and thus was going to come out of it all right. It was a nice feeling, but as she looked for that tiny connection she had to Sora and found nothing, Kairi found it slowly slipping away and having to force herself to not think about being too late. She didn't want to think about what that would mean.

* * *

As quickly as Roxas wanted to leave Wonderland, he was glad Kairi at least was with him. Naminé would be needed for sure, and seeing she had some type of awareness in Kairi was hopeful. He just hoped when things came down to it, it would all work out.

"Ready?" he asked the other teen as his hand hovered over the thrusters that would propel them away from Wonderland.

"Almost," Kairi double checked everything, since neither of them were even semi-experts in flying gummi ships she had insisted on taking the extra time to relook at everything. Roxas was impatient at the delay, but he knew something going wrong would cost them more time.

"Strange," the red head muttered and Roxas turn his head to look at her as she continued. "Another gummi ship just pulled into orbit."

"Well, I'll just have to try not to hit them then."

"I'd appreciate that seeing as how I just built this beauty." Roxas's head jerked up as Cid appeared on the main screen. The blonde man was sitting in the cockpit of the ship who just arrived. Cid rose an eyebrow at Roxas's dye job, but it quickly lowered and the beginnings of a frown on his face formed as he took in the sight of only Roxas and Kairi on the screen.

"Where's everyone else?"

Roxas felt Kairi looking at him, but he kept his eyes on Cid. "On the surface," he replied coolly and then closed the communication channel.

"We can't afford to lose any time," Roxas answered Kairi's unspoken question and then turned on the main thrusters. The _Pilaki_ wobbled, but shot off and just managed to not hit Cid's ship. Nothing was going to stop him from getting to Sora.

* * *

**A/N:** Um, yeah. This has been a looong time coming. I do apologize for it. To be honest, this fic really hasn't captured my interest for some time. But I hate the idea of just leaning in hanging so I'm going to do my best to finish this. Especially since I think there's only 2 or 3 chapters left. We'll see. Now that I don't have school I'm hoping to work on this regularly.


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